Shocking

How to spell shocking

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce shocking

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does shocking mean?

1. adjectiveCausing intense surprise, disgust, or moral outrage.
2. adjectiveExtremely bad or of very poor quality, used informally.

Shocking in a sentence

• The report revealed shocking levels of waste in the department.

• The weather on the coast was absolutely shocking all weekend.

• The documentary contained several shocking scenes that upset many viewers.

• His handwriting on the form was shocking and nobody could read it.

Where does shocking come from?

Language of origin: French

The base word 'shock' arrived in English in the 1500s from the French choc and its verb choquer, meaning 'to strike against' or 'to collide'. The original sense described the violent clash of forces, such as two armies or jousting riders meeting in battle, before it broadened to mean any sudden emotional jolt. By the 1600s the present-participle form 'shocking' was being used as an adjective for anything that delivered such a jolt to the senses or the moral feelings. The electrical meaning, the sting of an electric current, only attached itself later as scientists studied electricity in the 1700s. The spelling keeps the hard 'ck' of the base word, so the main thing to remember is the single doubled-c-and-k cluster followed by a plain '-ing'.

How the word is built

• shock (verb: to jolt or startle)
• -ing (adjective-forming suffix)