staggering

/ˈstæɡəɹɪŋ/

staggering is the present participle and gerund of stagger.

Adjective

staggering (comparative more staggering, superlative most staggering)

Incredible, overwhelming, amazing.
- The army suffered a staggering defeat.
- It is this stretch which provides what is perhaps the most staggering scenic prospect of all; the impression made on the mind by the overwhelming height of the Eiger, towering over the train, is almost impossible to describe.1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 754
Lurching, floundering.

staggering (countable and uncountable, plural staggerings)

The motion of one who staggers.
- There are to whom the gods, in their bounty, give glory: but far oftener it is given in wrath, as a curse and a poison; disturbing the whole inner health and industry of the man; leading onward through dizzy staggerings and tarantula jiggings […]1837, “Memoirs of Mirabeau”, in The Westminster Review, volume 26, page 436
The condition of being staggered or amazed.
- But these doubts, and fears, and staggerings, although they may be in the believer, yet they are not in his faith; these things argue the infirmity of his faith, indeed; but under all this, faith is fighting for the victory[…]1738, Ebenezer Erskine, The Annals of Redeeming Love
The spacing out of various actions over time.
- As a result of the recommendation of the Committee of Inquiry into London Transport, a Government-sponsored scheme for the staggering of working hours in London has been announced.1955 July, “Traffic Congestion in London”, in Railway Magazine, page 444
In animation, the repetition of a sequence of frames to show struggling effort

stagger (third-person singular simple present staggers, present participle staggering, simple past and past participle staggered)

(intransitive) In standing or walking, to sway from one side to the other as if about to fall; to stand or walk unsteadily; to reel or totter.
- She began to stagger across the room.
(transitive) To cause to reel or totter.
- The powerful blow of his opponent's fist staggered the boxer.
(intransitive) To cease to stand firm; to begin to give way; to fail.
- 1708, Joseph Addison, The Present State of the War, and the Necessity of an Augmentation
(intransitive) To begin to doubt and waver in purposes; to become less confident or determined; to hesitate.
- He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 4:20
(transitive) To cause to doubt and waver; to make to hesitate; to make less steady or confident; to shock.
- He will stagger the committee when he presents his report.
(transitive) To arrange (a series of parts) on each side of a median line alternately, as the spokes of a wheel or the rivets of a boiler seam.

What does staggering mean?: Staggering means incredible, overwhelming, amazing.
What is staggering the present participle and gerund of?: Staggering is the present participle and gerund of stagger.
What part of speech is staggering?: Staggering can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce staggering?: Staggering is pronounced /ˈstæɡəɹɪŋ/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: staggering (page history and authors); stagger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-staggering.ogg.

Cite this entry: “staggering.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/staggering. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.