stunning
Americanadjective
-
causing, capable of causing, or liable to cause astonishment, bewilderment, or a loss of consciousness or strength.
a stunning blow.
- Synonyms:
- astounding, numbing
-
of striking beauty or excellence.
What a stunning dress you're wearing!
adjective
Usage
What does stunning mean? Stunning essentially means something or someone causes such a huge impact that you are stunned from pain or a wave of emotion.Stunning can describe something or someone that literally causes physical pain, as in The kickboxer suffered a stunning blow to her face. Stunning is also used figuratively to describe something or someone that overwhelms you emotionally or has the potential to overwhelm you emotionally, as in The acrobats performed a stunning routine of flips and cartwheels. Finally, stunning can also describe something or someone that is especially beautiful or marvelous, as in The actress wore a stunning dress to the red carpet. You might also use dazzling or gorgeous.Example: In a stunning act of arrogance, the dictator built a solid gold statue of himself and placed it in the city square.
Other Word Forms
- stunningly adverb
Etymology
Origin of stunning
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The University of Connecticut’s stunning last-second upset over Duke in the March Madness college basketball tournament is the kind of moment that fans wait all season for.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
“It’s just this stunning array of not like, nice pieces of work, but a category-defining effort, year after year after year,” Vahdat said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
That stunning play in the bottom of the ninth inning didn’t just save Game 7 of the World Series, it also spared Pages’ reputation.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
Dan James scores a stunning long-range effort to give Wales a crucial lead in their World Cup Play-off semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cardiff.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
The ship itself and the artifacts constitute a stunning time capsule, giving us a unique record of maritime and everyday life in Tudor England.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
