Shockingly

How to spell shockingly

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce shockingly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does shockingly mean?

1. adverbTo a degree that causes surprise, dismay, or strong disapproval.

Shockingly in a sentence

• The repair bill was shockingly high for such a small job.

• The report was shockingly inaccurate, with errors on nearly every page.

Where does shockingly come from?

Language of origin: French

This word builds on the verb and noun 'shock', which entered English in the 1500s from the French choquer, meaning 'to strike against' or 'to collide with'. The French verb itself probably arose from a Germanic root suggesting a sudden, jarring impact, and the earliest English uses were quite literal, describing the violent meeting of armies or charging horsemen. Over time the sense softened from physical collision to the emotional jolt of surprise, outrage, or distress, which is the meaning that dominates today. The adjective 'shocking' developed from the present participle, and adding the ordinary adverb suffix '-ly' produced 'shockingly', meaning to a degree that startles or appalls. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the '-ing' is fully retained before '-ly', so the word keeps every letter of 'shocking' intact rather than collapsing into anything shorter.

How the word is built

• shock (to strike, jolt)
• -ing (participle/adjective)
• -ly (adverb suffix)