startlingly

adverbC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechleans written

Startlingly means to a degree that gives you a shock. Startlingly good.

It is used of things that are unexpected rather than merely extreme. A startlingly ordinary explanation is often the true one.

Definitions of startlingly

1adverbstartlinglyTo a degree that gives you a shock.C1
“The answer was startlingly simple once anybody looked.”

startlingly is a manner.

Where it comes from

From startling + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

startlingly in the wild

Publishers Weekly described it as "First-rate Le Guin", while the Sydney Morning Herald praised Le Guin's "startlingly original approach to the genre" in the collection.
The Wind's Twelve Quarters
The whole ascent, from base camp to base camp was done in 53 hours, a startlingly short time for a major Himalayan ascent in that era.
Skil Brum
Political scientists considered the research groundbreaking and startlingly original and gave him numerous awards.
Richard Fenno
The album is startlingly different from Myslovitz's other albums, abandoning the usual alt-rock sound in favour of psychedelic soundscapes and improvisations.
Skalary, mieczyki, neonki
Charlesworth particularly praised Moon's drumming for carrying not just the beat, but also the melody itself, in what he calls "startlingly original fashion".
Happy Jack (song)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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