Word family noun shock shocker aftershock adjective shocked shocking shock shockproof verb shock adverb shockingly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshockingshock‧ing /ˈʃɒkɪŋ $ ˈʃɑːk-/ ●●● S3 adjective 1 very surprising, upsetting, and difficult to believe the shocking news that Mark had hanged himself a shocking discovery The anger in his face was shocking.2 SHOCKmorally wrong It’s shocking that hospitals can deny help to older people. a shocking waste of money3 British English informalBAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONS very bad SYN terrible The path was in a shocking state. I’ve got a shocking cold. —shockingly adverb → shock2Examples from the Corpus
shocking• She says it's very shocking.• He couldn't have observed her intent scrutiny which was fuelled by an unfamiliar feeling she found deeply shocking.• These shocking events horrified the entire world.• Everything went black in the shocking folds of his embrace.• It can be quite shocking for a child to see the changes in his or her body as puberty approaches.• The report revealed some shocking new facts about the effect of drinking on health.• shocking photographs of mass graves• Another shocking piece of news greeted Theo in June, 1882.• But it is full of frustrating inconsistencies, with the central auto-da-fe scene standing out in almost shocking relief from everything else.• The woman had a husband who was a shocking sinner, he went in for drink something chronic.• But it has remained as puzzling to modern historians as it was shocking to contemporaries.• Opinion takes a world of countries so much for granted, it is mildly shocking to discover how recent the concept is.shocking news• Perhaps the most shocking news was that children got hit the hardest in this downward spiral.shocking waste• Moreover, it would be a shocking waste if you were not.• Lord Justice Woolf said this would be a shocking waste of resources.shocking state• He'd woken in a shocking state, his mouth like the Sahara desert.• It is a shocking state of affairs, and the Secretary of State should be ashamed of himself. 