heart-stopping

adjective

heart-stop·​ping ˈhärt-ˌstä-piŋ 

: extremely shocking or exciting

a heart-stopping adventure

heart-stopping views

heart-stoppingly adverb

a heart-stoppingly suspenseful film

a heart-stoppingly beautiful view

Synonyms

• breathtaking
• charged
• electric
• electrifying
• exciting
• exhilarating
• exhilarative
• galvanic
• galvanizing
• hair-raising
• inspiring
• intoxicating
• kicky
• mind-bending
• mind-blowing
• mind-boggling
• rip-roaring
• rousing
• stimulating
• stirring
• thrilling

Examples of heart-stopping in a Sentence

the movie's climax is a heart-stopping chase through the streets of San Francisco

Recent Examples on the Web

His car flipped, landed on its roof and skidded to a halt in a harrowing, heart-stopping show of sparks and flames. —Mark Long, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2025

Running out of ammunition, Corbett swiftly borrowed a villager’s shotgun and delivered the final, decisive shot from a heart-stopping distance of just 20 feet. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

The Longhorns seized the momentum, scoring in 2OT to secure a heart-stopping 39-31 victory. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025

After about a dozen of these heart-stopping discoveries, at some point my obsession became unshakable, and led to using the perfect shape in my own work. —Sophie Collé, Architectural Digest, 27 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above