Dictionary

staggeringly en · ADV

Etymology

Etymology tree English staggering Middle English -ly English -ly English staggeringly From staggering + -ly.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:degree) To a breathtaking degree.
   • Barely a bird and definitely none of my target species greeted the morning so I cut my losses and headed north through the staggeringly vast emptiness of the Outback. 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 254:
   • ‘Yes,’ said Slartibartfast, ‘staggeringly dull. Bewilderingly so.[…]’ 1982 August, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 111:
   • Her fanbase is staggeringly large, with 53% of Americans saying they are fans and 16% identifying as “avid fans”, according to a March 2023 Morning Consult poll. 2024 February 8, Carter Sherman, “Could Taylor Swift really swing the 2024 presidential election?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Feb 2024:
   • Green can be a double-edged sword. Does it make sense for an eco-warrior to arrive at (say) the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in his Tesla electric car, get out in his low-carbon vegan trainers, and then step into a 19th century means of transport that is staggeringly inefficient and pretty darn polluting? 2022 February 23, Benedict le Vay, “Part of rail's past... present... and future”, in RAIL, number 951, page 54:
   • The ancient city was staggeringly beautiful.
   • As The Dark Knight Rises brings a close to Christopher Nolan’s staggeringly ambitious Batman trilogy, it’s worth remembering that director chose The Scarecrow as his first villain—not necessarily the most popular among the comic’s gallery of rogues, but the one who set the tone for entire series. 2012 July 18, Scott Tobias, “The Dark Knight Rises”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2013:
2. Moving with a stagger.
   • He made his way staggeringly to the bar.

Forms

Translations (8)

fi ällistyttävän ((degree) to a breathtaking degree) · ru шатаясь ((manner) in a staggering way; with a stagger) · ru ошеломляюще ((degree) to a breathtaking degree) · fi hoiperrellen ((manner) in a staggering way; with a stagger) · ru пошатываясь ((manner) in a staggering way; with a stagger) · ru потрясающе ((degree) to a breathtaking degree) · ru нетвёрдой походкой ((manner) in a staggering way; with a stagger) · fi hoipertelevasti ((manner) in a staggering way; with a stagger)