staggering

Language▾

German

Persian

Russian

Spanish

A staggering number is one that's extremely high or surprising.

You might hear someone say "The new record for most hours worked without sleep is staggering - 264 hours!" when they mean to emphasize how incredible that amount of time is. This word is often used to describe statistics, numbers, or amounts that are unusually large. It can also be used to express shock or amazement at something. For example, "The price of the new iPhone is staggering" would suggest that it's much more expensive than anyone expected. In general, when we call a number staggering, we're highlighting its enormity and expressing our reaction to it.

How common is "staggering"?

Word staggering is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

verb

Sway unsteadily, reel, or totter.
Doubt, waver, be shocked.
Have multiple groups doing the same thing in a uniform fashion, but starting at different, evenly-spaced, times or places (attested from 1856).

1 / 3

noun

The motion of one who staggers.
That which staggers something or somebody.
In animation, the repetition of a sequence of frames to show struggling effort

1 / 3

adjective

Incredible, overwhelming, amazing.
Example: The army suffered a staggering defeat.

Real examples of "staggering" in context

Real-world video examples for this word are still being added.