Startling and Telling

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Startling adjective - Causing a strong emotional reaction because of unexpectedness.

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Telling and startling are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Telling" instead an adjective "Startling".

Nearby Words: startle, startled, startler

Telling adjective - Having the power to persuade.

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Startling and telling are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Startling" instead an adjective "Telling".

Nearby Words: tell, teller, telly

Elliot storms into a room to demand why JD has been telling people that she's rough with her physical examinations, startling Turk who had been balancing backwards on a wheelchair into falling on his ass.

Source: Series / Scrubs
Jump Scare: MacReady's test makes the Thing's Alien Blood scream and jump out of the dish, made much more startling in that he assumed said testee was human, and telling the next person he was going to check that he assumed he was the Thing.

Source: Film / The Thing (1982)

Cite this Source

Telling and Startling. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/startling/telling

Startling & Telling. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/startling/telling>.

Telling or Startling. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/startling/telling.

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