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

With the diverse cast, heart-stopping action, extremely high stakes (and Jedi body count), and yeah, even that Darth Plagueis tease, the eight-episode first season charted a thrilling new direction for the franchise. —Ew Staff, EW.com, 6 Dec. 2024

This year's completely unexpected Vikings team notched its 10th win, once again in heart-stopping fashion. —Nick Halter, Axios, 2 Dec. 2024

The lights flickered, plunging the car into darkness for a few heart-stopping moments. —New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024

Bayer Leverkusen has fallen off its heart-stopping form last year, leaving an open field of candidates for the title this time around. —Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above