as in breathtaking
causing great emotional or mental stimulation
the movie's climax is a heart-stopping chase through the streets of San Francisco
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Recent Examples of heart-stopping
Running out of ammunition, Corbett swiftly borrowed a villager’s shotgun and delivered the final, decisive shot from a heart-stopping distance of just 20 feet.
—
Scott Travers, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
The Longhorns seized the momentum, scoring in 2OT to secure a heart-stopping 39-31 victory.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
After about a dozen of these heart-stopping discoveries, at some point my obsession became unshakable, and led to using the perfect shape in my own work.
—Sophie Collé, Architectural Digest, 27 Dec. 2024
The result was a match that didn't give you a moment to breathe as all three guys beat each other senseless, giving us some heart-stopping near-falls and ultimately the right result at Breakker retained in dominant fashion.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heart-stopping
Scott Travers, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
The Longhorns seized the momentum, scoring in 2OT to secure a heart-stopping 39-31 victory.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
After about a dozen of these heart-stopping discoveries, at some point my obsession became unshakable, and led to using the perfect shape in my own work.
—Sophie Collé, Architectural Digest, 27 Dec. 2024
The result was a match that didn't give you a moment to breathe as all three guys beat each other senseless, giving us some heart-stopping near-falls and ultimately the right result at Breakker retained in dominant fashion.
—Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heart-stopping
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heart-stopping
Adjective
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This breathtaking final had already exceeded five hours.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
8 June 2025
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For my family, our go-to choice is always Lake Como with its breathtaking scenery, cute villages, and some of the country’s best luxury hotels in this little part of Northern Italy.—
Michelle Tchea,
Travel + Leisure,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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McVay has his top tight end group in a while, an exciting prospect for the coach’s football chess options.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 May 2025
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The latter star has landed a number of hits throughout the past few years by repurposing melodies and interpolating hooks from older, familiar smashes by other artists, reworking them into something exciting and new for a different audience.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
Adjective
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The defending champs got the all-important split in Edmonton thanks to a thrilling 5-4 double-overtime victory Friday.—
Adam Beasley,
Miami Herald,
7 June 2025
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The resulting tiebreak, however, provided the stage for Sabalenka to display impressive tenacity, fighting back from 3-0 to win a genuinely thrilling set that neither player deserved to lose.—
Jamie Barton,
CNN Money,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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One thing that might be interesting is the one with the ping pong paddle, Issue 6, because the black logo didn’t work over it.—
Kei Lim
June 9,
Literary Hub,
9 June 2025
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And a bigger body has a narrative of getting to that size, so that narrative in itself was quite interesting.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heart-stopping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heart-stopping. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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