Blinding

How to spell blinding

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce blinding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does blinding mean?

1. adjectiveSo bright or intense that it temporarily prevents you from seeing clearly.
2. verbPresent participle of 'blind': depriving someone of sight or judgement.
3. adjectiveInformal British term for something excellent or impressive.

Blinding in a sentence

• adjective

  The blinding glare off the snow forced every driver to slow down.

• verb

  The oncoming headlights were blinding him as he turned the corner.

• adjective

  The band gave a blinding performance that had the whole crowd on its feet.

• adjective

  She shielded her eyes against the blinding stage lights during the concert.

• verb

  His ambition was slowly blinding him to the risks of the deal.

• adjective

  He scored a blinding goal in the final minute of the match.

Where does blinding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows directly from the Old English adjective blind, meaning 'unable to see', which English has carried unbroken since well before the Norman Conquest. The same root runs through the Germanic languages, appearing in Dutch and German as 'blind' too, and scholars suspect its deeper ancestor described something 'clouded' or 'made murky' rather than literally eyeless. From the noun and verb came the verb 'to blind', meaning to rob someone of sight, and adding the participle ending -ing produced 'blinding' for anything so brilliant it dazzles the eyes. Over time the figurative senses bloomed: a blinding light, a blinding headache, and in British informal speech a 'blinding' performance that is simply dazzlingly good. Because the word is built on the short, familiar core 'blind', its spelling holds few surprises, the only thing to watch being the single d before the -ing.

How the word is built

• blind (sightless, from Old English blind)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)