dumbstruck · adj — so shocked as to be unable to speak. It carries an Arena rating of 1727, earned across 37 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dumbstruck ranks #1,285 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,715 of 17,166 for Most Vivid Words, #3,346 of 17,162 for Most Elegant Words, #3,961 of 17,201 for Funniest Words.
dumbstruck is pronounced /ˈdʌmˌstɹʌk/.
Why “dumbstruck” is a great word
DUMBSTRUCK — [Adjective] So shocked or astonished as to be rendered temporarily speechless. From dumb ("unable to speak, mute") + struck (past participle of strike, meaning "affected by, hit by"), literally meaning "struck dumb." Unlike astonished, which emphasizes wonder but not necessarily muteness, or dumbfounded, which suggests a more lingering, bewildered paralysis, dumbstruck captures the immediate, total short-circuit of language upon impact. It is the slack-jawed stillness of a witness to sudden catastrophe, the breath caught in the throat upon receiving news that rewrites a life, or the profound quiet of a cynic confronted with a gesture of pure grace—a testament to the body’s first, honest defense against a world that has just, and irrevocably, rearranged itself.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From dumb + struck. Comapare strike dumb.
adj
- So shocked as to be unable to speak.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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