Need another word that means the same as “shocking”? Find 48 synonyms and 30 related words for “shocking” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Shocking” are: disgraceful, scandalous, shameful, lurid, appalling, horrifying, horrific, dreadful, awful, frightful, terrible, horrible, outrageous, vile, abominable, ghastly, foul, monstrous, unspeakable, abhorrent, hideous, atrocious, repellent, revolting, odious, repulsive, repugnant, disgusting, nauseating, sickening, grisly, loathsome, offensive, distressing, upsetting, perturbing, disturbing, disquieting, unsettling, agitating, severe, serious, grave, critical, grievous, acute, dire, grim
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “shocking” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
abhorrent | Offensive to the mind. Racism was abhorrent to us all. |
abominable | Exceptionally bad or displeasing. What an abominable mess. |
acute | Denoting or designed for patients with an acute form of a disease. An acute sense of smell. |
agitating | Causing or tending to cause anger or resentment. |
appalling | Causing consternation. His conduct was appalling. |
atrocious | Provoking horror. He attempted an atrocious imitation of my English accent. |
awful | Inspiring reverential wonder or fear. The awful war. |
critical | Characterized by careful evaluation and judgment. A critical analysis of Melville s writings. |
dire | Of a very poor quality. He was in dire need of help. |
disgraceful | Giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation- Thackeray. It is disgraceful that they should be denied unemployment benefits. |
disgusting | Highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust. He had the most disgusting rotten teeth. |
disquieting | Causing mental discomfort. The disquieting sounds of nearby gunfire. |
distressing | Causing anxiety, sorrow or pain; upsetting. Some very distressing news. |
disturbing | Causing anxiety; worrying. A disturbing amount of crime. |
dreadful | Extremely disagreeable and unpleasant. There s been a dreadful accident. |
foul | Of a baseball not hit between the foul lines. Foul language. |
frightful | Extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact. In a frightful hurry. |
ghastly | Very objectionable, bad, or unpleasant. One of the most ghastly crimes ever committed. |
grave | Dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises. A grave situation. |
grievous | Causing or marked by grief or anguish. His death was a grievous blow. |
grim | Harshly ironic or sinister. Grim necessity. |
grisly | Shockingly repellent; inspiring horror. The town was shaken by a series of grisly crimes. |
hideous | Extremely ugly. A hideous pattern of injustice. |
horrible | Very unpleasant. A horrible massacre. |
horrific | Causing horror. Horrific injuries. |
horrifying | Provoking horror- Winston Churchill. An alarming even horrifying picture. |
loathsome | Highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust. This loathsome little swine. |
lurid | Unpleasantly bright in colour, especially so as to create a harsh or unnatural effect. Lurid flames. |
monstrous | Inhumanly or outrageously evil or wrong. The monstrous tidal wave swamped the surrounding countryside. |
nauseating | Causing or liable to cause a feeling of nausea or disgust; disgusting. A nauseating smell. |
odious | Unequivocally detestable- Edmund Burke. Consequences odious to those you govern. |
offensive | Morally offensive. Offensive operations against the insurgents. |
outrageous | Very bold and unusual and rather shocking. Spends an outrageous amount on entertainment. |
perturbing | Causing distress or worry or anxiety. There were two scenes that I think would be perturbing to small children. |
repellent | Able to repel a particular thing; impervious to a particular substance. A water repellent fabric. |
repugnant | Extremely distasteful; unacceptable. Cannibalism seems repugnant to us. |
repulsive | Arousing intense distaste or disgust. Repulsive behavior. |
revolting | Highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust. Revolting food. |
scandalous | Giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation- Thackeray. A scandalous allegation. |
serious | Requiring effort or concentration; complex and not easy to answer or solve. Raised serious objections to the proposal. |
severe | Severely simple. A severe blow. |
shameful | Giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation. A shameful accusation. |
sickening | Causing or liable to cause a feeling of nausea or disgust. She hit the ground with a sickening thud. |
terrible | Very unskilful. What a terrible mess. |
unsettling | Causing anxiety or uneasiness; disturbing. The finale may come as an unsettling shock. |
unspeakable | Too sacred to be uttered. Unspeakable happiness. |
upsetting | Causing an emotional disturbance. An upsetting experience. |
vile | Extremely unpleasant. All the feasts that thou hast shared erewhile to mine shall be but vile. |
amaze | Affect with wonder. He has been amazed by the quality of the employees at the bank. |
amazing | Inspiring awe or admiration or wonder. An amazing number of people registered. |
astonish | Surprise or impress (someone) greatly. You never fail to astonish me. |
astonishing | Surprising greatly. An astonishing achievement. |
astounding | Bewildering or striking dumb with wonder. The summit offers astounding views. |
awesome | Extremely well; excellently. The awesome complexity of the universe. |
disturbing | Causing distress or worry or anxiety. A disturbing amount of crime. |
flabbergasted | Greatly surprised or astonished. Flabbergasted fans took to the streets to celebrate the team s big win. |
haunting | The action of haunting a place. From two handsome and talented young men to two haunting horrors of disintegration. |
impressive | Making a strong or vivid impression. Impressive achievements in science. |
incredible | Beyond belief or understanding. An almost incredible tale of triumph and tragedy. |
marvelous | Being or having the character of a miracle. A marvelous collection of rare books. |
outrageous | Wildly exaggerated or improbable. Her outrageous leotards and sexy routines. |
prodigious | Remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree. The young Mozart s prodigious talents. |
puzzled | Unable to understand; perplexed. The questioners were met with puzzled looks. |
raunchy | Energetically earthy and sexually explicit. His raunchy new novel. |
redoubtable | Inspiring fear- G.H.Johnston. He was a redoubtable debater. |
revelation | The last book of the New Testament recounting a divine revelation of the future to St John. Seeing them play at international level was a revelation. |
saintliness | The quality of resembling a saint. Her selfless behaviour borders on saintliness. |
sensational | Causing great public interest and excitement. A sensational view. |
shattering | The act of breaking something into small pieces. The shattering peal of artillery. |
shock | Collect or gather into shocks. They were deeply shocked by the murder. |
spectacular | Characteristic of spectacles or drama. French history was represented in a spectacular for tourists. |
staggering | Deeply shocking; astonishing. Suffered a staggering defeat. |
startling | So remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm. Startling news. |
surprised | Taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment. There was a surprised silence. |
surprising | Causing surprise; unexpected. Leaped up with surprising agility. |
unexpectedly | In a way that was not expected or regarded as likely. Tourist chiefs reported unexpectedly high visitor numbers. |
wonderful | Extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers. The climate was wonderful all the year round. |
wondering | Characterized by or expressive of admiration and amazement. Peter listened with an air of wondering astonishment. |
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