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
Greengrass has always excelled at turning real-life horrors into heart-stopping movies, but this particular vision of Hell on Earth is on another level.
—
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
At one point, MacLachlan orchestrates a heart-stopping moment of reckoning for Bill and Tammy, written with a sudden, cathartic directness—a break in their usual language of deferential hesitations—which the actors underplay to perfection.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
After nearly a year of planning, a group of four foxes made a heart-stopping journey from Russia to Santa Ysabel in late June, avoiding war, diverted flights and even missiles along the way.
—Regina Elling, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Festivalgoers at a major music event found themselves in a heart-stopping situation after a popular amusement ride suddenly shut down, leaving several people stranded upside down in the air.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heart-stopping
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
At one point, MacLachlan orchestrates a heart-stopping moment of reckoning for Bill and Tammy, written with a sudden, cathartic directness—a break in their usual language of deferential hesitations—which the actors underplay to perfection.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
After nearly a year of planning, a group of four foxes made a heart-stopping journey from Russia to Santa Ysabel in late June, avoiding war, diverted flights and even missiles along the way.
—Regina Elling, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Festivalgoers at a major music event found themselves in a heart-stopping situation after a popular amusement ride suddenly shut down, leaving several people stranded upside down in the air.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heart-stopping
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heart-stopping
Adjective
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Located in northern Spain, along the Bay of Biscay and between the popular cities of Bilbao and San Sebastián, the Urola Coast of Basque Country is a breathtaking stretch of shoreline.—
Michelle Arellano Martin,
Travel + Leisure,
9 Nov. 2025
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In dozens of interviews in villages on Venezuela's breathtaking northeastern coast, from which some of the boats departed, residents and relatives said the dead men had indeed been running drugs but were not narco-terrorists or leaders of a cartel or gang.—
NPR,
NPR,
8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Shirley Valentine serves as an escape for those who envision a life more exciting, a fact to which Collins attributed its success.—
Lisa de los Reyes,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Nov. 2025
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Surveying the broader landscape of AI benchmarks, Mahdi said researchers and developers have many exciting avenues to explore.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Johnson emphasized that the same was happening with him personally after the thrilling Game 7, as people who didn't tune in to an MLB game recently were brought back in by the Dodgers' run.—
Gabe Smallson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
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Perhaps the most thrilling part of diving in Nevis, however, is the many shipwrecks which all have a story.—
Adrienne Jordan,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The citrus added just enough brightness and texture to keep each bite interesting without overcomplicating things.—
Evan Moore
November 11,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Nov. 2025
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The interesting thing about when I was hired was the board was comprised largely of people who had been there from the beginning — the big-ticket people like Roger Corman and Mark Damon.—
Kevin Cassidy,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heart-stopping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heart-stopping. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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