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dumfounding

dumfounding

8.4
So surprising that you cannot speak
  • adjective
  • /ˈdʌmˌfaʊndɪŋ/
translation icon : asombroso
  • The magician’s final trick was so dumfounding that the audience sat in stunned silence.

Examples

  • Her dumfounding performance left the audience speechless.

  • Witnessing the northern lights for the first time was a truly dumfounding experience.

  • Her dumfounding discovery changed the way scientists viewed the phenomenon.

  • The magician's trick was truly dumfounding.

  • The magician’s final trick was so dumfounding that the audience sat in stunned silence.

  • Witnessing the northern lights for the first time was a truly dumfounding experience.

  • Her dumfounding discovery changed the way scientists viewed the phenomenon.

Synonyms

astounding
vsdumfounding
92 4.1

So surprising and impressive that you feel amazed

leads to speechless amazement rather than just strong surprise
mind-boggling
vsdumfounding
  • Informal
31 7.0

Very surprising or hard to understand

evokes speechless amazement beyond mere surprise
baffling
vsdumfounding
27 6.4

Hard to understand and causing confusion

overwhelms people into silence with sudden astonishment
perplexing
vsdumfounding
16 6.7

Making people feel confused because it is hard to understand

provokes speechless surprise instead of mere puzzlement
bewildering
vsdumfounding
13 5.2

Causing a lot of confusion and making things hard to understand

stuns into quiet amazement rather than only confusing
mystifying
vsdumfounding
7 7.3

Causing someone to feel confused

causes dumb silence from wonder, not only puzzlement
confounding
vsdumfounding
1 7.7

Making people confused and things hard to understand

surprises and silences people rather than only causing contradiction
boggling
vsdumfounding
1 7.5

Very surprising and hard to understand because it is unusual

creates speechless wonder rather than only oddness or difficulty
dumbfounding
vsdumfounding
7.5

Causing someone to be unable to speak because they are very surprised

is the same meaning but spelled without the letter b

Antonyms

683 1.0

Normal and not special or unusual

9 3.9

Not very good or likely to attract attention

How Astonishing

staggering
24 5.3
dumfounding
8.4
astonishing
5 3.4
amazing
1.0
surprising
433 1.8

Surface Forms

dumfounding positive

Morphology

dumfounding = dumbfound (transparent) = dumbfound + ing

The adjective is formed by adding '-ing' to the verb 'dumbfound', and the meaning 'causing one to be speechless' is directly predictable from the verb.

Etymology

Dumfounding comes from joining dumb ('silent') and found (an old word meaning 'to strike' or 'surprise'). So, to dumfound someone is to 'strike them silent', which is why it means something so amazing that a person cannot speak.