stinging

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English

Etymology

From Middle English styngyng; equivalent to sting +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

Adjective

stinging (comparative more stinging, superlative most stinging)

  1. Having the capacity to sting.
    stinging nettles
  2. (figurative) Precise and hurtful.
    • 2017 September 27, David Browne, “Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91”, in Rolling Stone:
      That same year, a young Gloria Steinem went undercover as a Playboy Bunny at one of his Playboy Clubs and wrote a stinging inside critique of the magazine's ethos and chauvinism in an article, titled "A Bunny's Tale," which was published in Show magazine.

Derived terms

Verb

stinging

  1. present participle and gerund of sting
    • 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
      The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. [] Drifts of yellow vapour, fiery, parching, stinging, filled the air.

Noun

stinging (plural stingings)

  1. The act by which someone receives a sting.
    the stingings of scorpions
    stingings of remorse