stun
verb /stʌn/
/stʌn/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they stun | /stʌn/ /stʌn/ |
| he / she / it stuns | /stʌnz/ /stʌnz/ |
| past simple stunned | /stʌnd/ /stʌnd/ |
| past participle stunned | /stʌnd/ /stʌnd/ |
| -ing form stunning | /ˈstʌnɪŋ/ /ˈstʌnɪŋ/ |
- stun somebody/something to make a person or an animal unconscious for a short time, especially by hitting them on the head synonym knock out
- The fall stunned me for a moment.
- The animals are stunned before slaughter.
- stun somebody to surprise or shock somebody so much that they cannot think clearly or speak synonym astound
- Her words stunned me—I had no idea she felt that way.
- The guests were stunned into silence.
- The company stunned investors with its third profits warning in five months.
Synonyms surprisesurpriseTopics Feelingsc1- startle
- amaze
- stun
- astonish
- take somebody aback
- astound
- surprise to give somebody the feeling that you get when something happens that you do not expect or do not understand, or something that you do expect does not happen; to make somebody feel surprised:
- The outcome didn’t surprise me at all.
- startle to surprise somebody suddenly in a way that slightly shocks or frightens them:
- Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.
- The explosion startled the horse.
- amaze to surprise somebody very much:
- Just the huge size of the place amazed her.
- stun (rather informal) (often in newspapers) to surprise or shock somebody so much that they cannot think clearly or speak
- astonish to surprise somebody very much:
- The news astonished everyone.
- take somebody aback [usually passive] (especially of something negative) to surprise or shock somebody:
- We were rather taken aback by her hostile reaction.
- astound to surprise or shock somebody very much:
- His arrogance astounded her.
- It surprises somebody/startles somebody/amazes somebody/stuns somebody/astonishes somebody/takes somebody aback/astounds somebody
- to surprise/startle/amaze/stun/astonish/astound somebody that…
- to surprise/amaze somebody what/how…
- to surprise/startle/amaze/stun/astonish/astound somebody to know/find/learn/see/hear…
- to be surprised/startled/stunned into (doing) something
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- briefly
- momentarily
- into
- stun somebody into silence
- stun somebody to impress somebody very much synonym amaze
- They were stunned by the view from the summit.
Word OriginMiddle English: shortening of Old French estoner ‘astonish’.