startling

• POS: Verb (usu participle)

OXFORD DICTIONARY

startling, adj.
1 surprising.
2 alarming (startling news).

Derivative

startlingly adv.

THESAURUS

startling

abrupt, alarming, amazing, astonishing, astounding, awesome, awing, breathtaking, chilling, confounding, daunting, deterrent, deterring, disconcerting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, disquieting, disturbing, electrifying, eye-opening, fear-inspiring, fearful, fearsome, frightening, frightful, hasty, headlong, impetuous, impulsive, jarring, jolting, mind-boggling, nerve-shattering, overawing, overwhelming, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, quick, scaring, scary, shocking, spectacular, speedy, staggering, stunning, sudden, surprising, swift, terrifying, unanticipated, unexpected, unforeseen, unlooked-for, unpredicted, unsettling, upsetting

ROGET THESAURUS

startling

Inexpectation

N inexpectation, non-expectation, false expectation, miscalculation, surprise, sudden burst, thunderclap, blow, shock, start, bolt out of the blue, wonder, eye opener, unpleasant surprise, pleasant surprise, nonexpectant, surprised, unwarned, unaware, off one's guard, inattentive, unexpected, unanticipated, unpredicted, unlooked for, unforeseen, unhoped for, dropped from the clouds, beyond expectation, contrary to expectation, against expectation, against all expectation, out of one's reckoning, unheard of, startling, surprising, sudden, unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable), abruptly, unexpectedly, surprisingly, plump, pop, a l'improviste, unawares, without notice, without warning, without a 'by your leave', like a thief in the night, like a thunderbolt, in an unguarded moment, suddenly, Int, heydey!, little did one think, little did one expect, nobody would ever suppose, nobody would ever think, nobody would ever expect, who would have thought? it beats the Dutch.