startling

English

Verb

startling

1. Present participle of startle.

Adjective

startling (comparative more startling, superlative most startling)

1. Likely to startle; surprising; shocking.
   • 2011 September 27, Alistair Magowan, “Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Man City”, BBC Sport:

     That startling admission capped a miserable night for City as they arrived in Germany following an unbeaten start to the season.

Synonyms

• alarming

Derived terms

• startlingly

Translations

likely to startle

• Italian: sconvolgente (it), sorprendente (it)

Trivia

This is one of the longest English words that can have one letter taken away at a time and still be a common word, down to one letter: startling, starting or starling, staring, string, sting, sing, sin, in, and I. sparkling and splashing also bear this property.