Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- That startles or that excites sudden surprise, apprehension, fear, or like emotion; that rouses or suddenly and forcibly attracts attention: as, startling news; a startling discovery.
- Easily startled or alarmed; skittish; shying.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Present participle of
startle . - adjective Likely to
startle ;surprising ;shocking .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word startling.
Examples
-
The statistics were published as a second charity voiced concern over what it called "startling variations" in diagnosis and treatment outcomes in ovarian cancer.
-
Before Biro told me about his research into "La Bella Principessa," and what he described as startling findings, he shared with me the story of how he became the world's first authenticator of art works through fingerprinting-a story that began, curiously enough, with the very paintings I was staring at.
GoodShit 2010
-
After Mount Holly Elementary School opened in August, Rock Hill school district parents with children at nearby Oakdale Elementary noticed what they call a startling change.
-
After Mount Holly Elementary School opened in August, Rock Hill school district parents with children at nearby Oakdale Elementary noticed what they call a startling change.
-
The latest batch of confidential documents released by the Wikileaks anti-secrecy group do not contain startling information.
WikiLeaks Documents Highlight Problem of Security Force Training 2010
-
The latest batch of confidential documents released by the Wikileaks anti-secrecy group do not contain startling information.
WikiLeaks Documents Highlight Problem of Security Force Training 2010
-
Even more startling is the fact that the reverses (tails) of these two are different; note that ‘ONE CENT’ is higher on one than on the other.
-
Perhaps most startling is the discovery from the deciphering of the human genome that we have only between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.
Archive 2009-01-01 Gordon McCabe 2009
-
They have offered NO alternatives, have lied through their teeth at every opportunity, and their hypocrisy shows in startling contrast to the Democrats doing their best to turn around our disaster of a Health Care System.
-
The latest batch of confidential documents released by the Wikileaks anti-secrecy group do not contain startling information.
WikiLeaks Documents Highlight Problem of Security Force Training 2010
oroboros commented on the word startling
What common 9-letter word in the English language is still a word when each of the nine letters is removed one by one? (I'll bet there are more). L,T,A,R,T,G,S,N = I
April 17, 2008
bilby commented on the word startling
startling
starting
staring
string
sting
sing
sin
in
I
April 17, 2008
mollusque commented on the word startling
Sparkling is another.
April 26, 2008
bilby commented on the word startling
When a starling lands in a cup of T.
May 22, 2024