bombshell
noun
Simple meaning
Something that is very surprising, shocking, amazing or sensational.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahmshelSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑmʃɛl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
figurative
Something that is very surprising, shocking, amazing or sensational.
“News of the attack came like a bombshell.”
by extension
Someone who is very attractive; a sex symbol.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Something that is very surprising, shocking, amazing or sensational.
Used this way, bombshell is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“News of the attack came like a bombshell.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bombshell
- “News of the attack came like a bombshell.”noun
- “She was a blonde bombshell.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Utter or do something surprising.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.