Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use thunderbolt in a sentence

11 example sentences · noun, verb

Thunderbolt means a flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder. Example: “News of the actress’s death came as a thunderbolt to her fans.”

Examples of thunderbolt by meaning

nounAn event that is terrible, horrific or unexpected.

  • News of the actress’s death came as a thunderbolt to her fans.

nounA very powerful shot.

  • Substitute Niko Kranjcar's injury-time thunderbolt gave Tottenham a dramatic win over Bolton.2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC

More sentences with thunderbolt

  • Dyeus was the shining God of Sky, the giver of rain, the vanquisher of enemies with thunderbolts.1990, Sophy Burnham, A Book of Angels: Reflections on Angels Past and Present, and True Stories of How They Touch Our Lives, Ballantine…. From the entry Dyeus
  • Yet fiercer the storm Shocks onward terrific — A thunderbolt falls! — Oaks crash down heart-shatter'd!1907, Edward Hardingham, Lays and legends of the forest of Essex. From the entry begather
  • He humored them by taking one small sip that sent thunderbolts down his neck, and he becan coughing like a "lunger".2015, Conn Hamlett, John Lee Johnson: Both Barrels Blazing: Double Trouble, →ISBN. From the entry Texas tea
  • The myth soon emerged that they were thunderbolts.2007 February 12, “Fossils: myths, mystery and magic”, in Belfast Telegraph, page 1. From the entry devil's finger
  • He stood 'stricken as if with a thunderbolt'.1997, Lady Anne Somerset, Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN, page 282. From the entry dumbfoundment
  • The strokes of steel rang out between the crashing thunderbolts, and the blade-struck sparks rivalled in fiercity the lightning’s livid glare.1902, Carolyn Wells, “The Pot of Painted Butter”, in Abeniki Caldwell: A Burlesque Historical Novel, New York, N.Y.: Robert Howard…. From the entry fiercity
  • The scholiast on Il. 1.5 likewise notes that Zeus chose the Trojan War, ‘since he could have destroyed them all by thunderbolts or floods’.2025 December 12, Tom Hercules Davies, “Horses, Wheels, Languages: Greek, Mesopotamian and Indic Epic on the Eurasian Steppe”, in The…. From the entry scholiast
  • Onis have supernatural powers that can command the forces of nature such as wind (to create hurricanes) and lightning (to create thunderbolts).2005, Christopher Hart, Manga Mania Shoujo: How to Draw the Charming and Romantic Characters of Japanese Comics, →ISBN, page 69. From the entry oni
  • The bidental was the consecrated burial-place of the thunderbolt of Jove on the spot where the bolt was supposed to have buried itself in the ground.1914, A. L. Frothingham, “Circular templum and mundus. Was the templum only rectangular?”, in American Journal of Archaeology, volume 18…. From the entry bidental

Meaning of thunderbolt

  1. noun A flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder.
  2. noun An event that is terrible, horrific or unexpected.
  3. noun Vehement threatening or censure; especially, ecclesiastical denunciation; fulmination.

Full definition of thunderbolt

Questions about thunderbolt in a sentence

How do you use thunderbolt in a sentence?
Thunderbolt is used as a noun and verb. For example: “News of the actress’s death came as a thunderbolt to her fans.”
What is a short sentence with thunderbolt?
“He stood 'stricken as if with a thunderbolt'.”
What does thunderbolt mean?
Thunderbolt means a flash of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thunderbolt (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use thunderbolt in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/thunderbolt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.