jaw-dropping

adjective

jaw-drop·​ping ˈjȯ-ˌdrä-piŋ 

: causing great surprise or astonishment

jaw-dropper

ˈjȯ-ˌdrä-pər 

noun

jaw-droppingly

ˈjȯ-ˌdrä-piŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms of jaw-dropping

• amazing
• startling
• surprising
• stunning
• shocking
• astonishing

Examples of jaw-dropping in a Sentence

the jaw-dropping prices for high-end modern art at the auction houses this season

Recent Examples on the Web

Brooke Reese, the host of Apple Music’s Global Chart Show, says that beyond radio play and chart domination, audiences appreciate an evocative and vulnerable performance, which doesn’t always require jaw-dropping vocals. — Jaeden Pinder, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026

For a sport that spent decades with effectively the same system, structure and configuration, the rate of change in modern college football is jaw-dropping. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2026

As the puzzle pieces shift slowly into place, these revelations are jaw-dropping (once again, in their highly fictitious context), leading to a journalistic urgency. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026

This version lost eight league games before Christmas, and the most memorable of those came in September at Villa Park, thanks to Ronnie Rosenthal’s jaw-dropping, era-defining miss. — Amitai Winehouse, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for jaw-dropping

• eavesdropping
• outcropping
• sharecropping
• chopping
• copping
• cropping
• dropping
• flopping
• hopping
• lopping
• mopping
• popping