: extremely startling, distressing, or offensive
shocking news
Synonyms
Examples of shocking in a Sentence
The number of young teenagers who smoke is shocking.
a shocking waste of money
The building is in a shocking state.
Recent Examples on the Web
The result is a provocative, at times shocking and unsettling, overview of a surge of startup businesses that use to technology to unite the living with their deceased love ones.
—
Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
A lot has changed: Secrets are revealed, team rosters are shuffled, and characters meet shocking fates.
—Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024
Early on April 14, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, causing little damage but shocking Israelis with the scale of the attack.
—Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
The shocking combination of red-orange lava plumes and blazing lightning dominated the island’s skies, prompting the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, the Indonesian agency that tracks volcanic activity, to issue a Level IV alert, which is the highest level possible.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
The shocking incident took place in full view of news cameras shortly after a full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was seated for his hush money trial.
—USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
Hours later, police had pieced together the trail of tragedy and linked the three shocking scenes, attributing them all to Johnson.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Most striking was how the backroom conversation, revealed by The Times in 2022, was utterly shocking to millions of people, but entirely predictable to millions of others.
—Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
The former soccer player and wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed a shocking hair change on April 10 on Instagram.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
A lot has changed: Secrets are revealed, team rosters are shuffled, and characters meet shocking fates.
—Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 19 Apr. 2024
Early on April 14, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, causing little damage but shocking Israelis with the scale of the attack.
—Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
The shocking combination of red-orange lava plumes and blazing lightning dominated the island’s skies, prompting the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, the Indonesian agency that tracks volcanic activity, to issue a Level IV alert, which is the highest level possible.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
The shocking incident took place in full view of news cameras shortly after a full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was seated for his hush money trial.
—USA TODAY, 19 Apr. 2024
Hours later, police had pieced together the trail of tragedy and linked the three shocking scenes, attributing them all to Johnson.
—Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Most striking was how the backroom conversation, revealed by The Times in 2022, was utterly shocking to millions of people, but entirely predictable to millions of others.
—Erika D. Smith, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
The former soccer player and wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes revealed a shocking hair change on April 10 on Instagram.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shocking.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near shocking
Cite this Entry
“Shocking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shocking. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shocking
adjective
shock·ing
: causing horror or disgust
a shocking crime
shocking behavior
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share