stun
/stʌn/verb, noun
stun is spelled S-T-U-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, stun means “To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in stun?
| Letters | 4: S-T-U-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is stun?
Stun appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce stun?
- /stʌn/
- /stʊn/
Stun has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stun.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with stun?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as stun.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nuts.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of stun
- stuns present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- stunning participle, present
- stunned participle, past
- stin
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stun mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness.
Bill tried to stun the snake by striking it on the head.
- 2
To shock or surprise.
The celebrity was stunned to find herself confronted with unfounded allegations on the front page of a newspaper.
- 3
To hit the cue ball so that it slides without topspin or backspin (and with or without sidespin) and continues at a natural angle after contact with the object ball
- 4
To enter a stunned state.
The monsters stun when you jump on them.
- 5
slangTo confiscate (an unguarded rifle, magazine, piece of equipment, etc.) from an unsuspecting soldier as punishment for neglect.
noun
- 1
The condition of being stunned.
- 2
That which stuns; a shock; a stupefying blow.
- 3
A person who lacks intelligence.
- 4
The effect on the cue ball where the ball is hit without topspin, backspin or sidespin.
Williams will need a lot of stun to avoid going in the middle pocket
- 5
A low-range setting for an energy weapon that will stun its target but not injure or kill it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stun in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étourdir , étonner, époustoufler |
| German | betäuben , verblüffen |
| Portuguese | atordoar, aturdir , assombrar |
| Spanish | anonadar, aturdir, pasmar, dejar “sin sentido”/atónito, adarvar, despampanar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does stun come from?
Inherited from Middle English stonen, stone (“to astonish, stun, numb”, also stoneyen), probably either directly or indirectly from Anglo-Norman estoner (“to stun, astonish”), from Late Latin *stunāre, from Frankish *stunōn (“to thunder, crash”) or perhaps from an unattested Latin *extonāre (“to thunder out, make a thunderous sound”), from tonāre ("to thunder"; compare Latin attonāre). An alternative etymology derives stonen from Old English stunian (“to smash, thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *stunōn. See also astonish, astound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).