stinging
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English styngyng; equivalent to sting + -ing.
Pronunciation
Adjective
stinging (comparative more stinging, superlative most stinging)
- Having the capacity to sting.
- stinging nettles
- (figurative) Precise and hurtful
- 2017 September 27, David Browne, "Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91," Rolling Stone
- That same year, a young Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny at one of his Playboy Clubs and wrote a stinging inside critique of the magazine's ethos and chauvinism in an article, titled "A Bunny's Tale," which was published in Show magazine.
- 2017 September 27, David Browne, "Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91," Rolling Stone
Derived terms
Verb
stinging
- present participle of sting
- 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
- The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. […] Drifts of yellow vapour, fiery, parching, stinging, filled the air.
Noun
stinging (plural stingings)
- The act by which someone receives a sting.
- the stingings of scorpions
- stingings of remorse
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -ing
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋɪŋ
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns