startling
adjective
, ˈstär-tᵊl-iŋ\
Definition of startling
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Synonyms & Antonyms for startling
Synonyms
amazing, astonishing, astounding, blindsiding, dumbfounding (also dumfounding), eye-opening, flabbergasting, jarring, jaw-dropping, jolting, shocking, stunning, stupefying, surprising
Antonyms
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Examples of startling in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those fires, fueled by winds from an incoming cold front, produced scenes this week that were both startling and ominous: Smoke darkening the midday skies over Sao Paulo and other cities. — Washington Post, "The Amazon is burning. Bolsonaro says his critics are setting the fires, to make him look bad.," 22 Aug. 2019 Those fires, fueled by winds from an incoming cold front, produced scenes this week that were both startling and ominous: Smoke darkening the midday skies over Sao Paulo and other cities. — Anchorage Daily News, "The Amazon is burning. Brazil’s president accused critics of setting fires to make him look bad.," 22 Aug. 2019 Those fires, fueled by winds from an incoming cold front, produced scenes this week that were both startling and ominous: Smoke darkening the midday skies over Sao Paulo and other cities. — oregonlive, "Brazil’s president claims Amazon rainforest fires are being set by his critics," 22 Aug. 2019 But the inability to stop the counter was startling. — Jonathan Wilson, SI.com, "Chelsea's Weakness Defending Counter an Early Red Flag for Lampard's Blues," 13 Aug. 2019 Just this past week, 2020 contender Sen. Bernie Sanders, a staunch advocate for health care rights, traveled to Canada to make a point just how startling the disparity in drug costs really is. — CBS News, "Trump administration to allow Americans to access lower-cost drugs from Canada," 31 July 2019 As with any dance-heavy Broadway musical, there’s an emphasis here on acts of athleticism and physical control, and again, the combination of lean, seemingly naked bodies and the evocation of cute house pets is pretty startling. — Tasha Robinson, The Verge, "Let’s all boggle at the furry erotic dream that is the first trailer for Tom Hooper’s Cats," 18 July 2019 Blessed with a thorough research team, Howard has also rounded up a range of fascinating performance footage from earlier in Pavarotti’s career, some of which is quite startling. — Kenneth Turan, Detroit Free Press, "Ron Howard crafts an emotional tribute to Pavarotti," 27 June 2019 Even the last three years have been incredibly startling in terms of the sheer expansion of TV, the change in what people are paying attention to, and definitely the technology. — Jonny Auping, Longreads, "‘TV Has This Really Fraught Relationship with the Audience.’," 25 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'startling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for startling
startling
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of startling
See the full definition for startling in the English Language Learners Dictionary
startling
adjectiveKids Definition of startling
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