What's the difference between astonishing and spectacular?

Astonishing


Definition:

  • (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Astonish
  • (a.) Very wonderful; of a nature to excite astonishment; as, an astonishing event.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It is my desperate hope that we close out of town.” In the book, God publishes his own 'It Getteth Better' video and clarifies his original writings on homosexuality: I remember dictating these lines to Moses; and afterward looking up to find him staring at me in wide-eyed astonishment, and saying, "Thou do knowest that when the Israelites read this, they're going to lose their fucking shit, right?"
  • (2) To a supporter at the last election like me – someone who spoke alongside Nick Clegg at the curtain-raiser event for the party conference during the height of Labour's onslaught on civil liberties, and was assured privately by two leaders that the party was onside about civil liberties – this breach of trust and denial of principle is astonishing.
  • (3) It's that he habitually abuses his position by lobbying ministers at all; I've heard from former ministers who were astonished by the speed with which their first missive from Charles arrived, opening with the phrase: "It really is appalling".
  • (4) Puskas, possessed of a left foot of astonishing power, and his team colleagues, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor, all found their way to Spain.
  • (5) Results of venous thrombectomies are particularly astonishingly good in phlegmasia coerulea and it is therefore mandatory to transfer all fresh cases of thrombosis of the deep veins of the peelvis and lower extremities to an angiologic center in order to differentiate cases for fibrinolytic therapy, from those which require surgical intervention.
  • (6) FWA chairman Andy Dunn said: "Those members who have been fortunate enough to be working at a match involving Luis Suárez have witnessed an astonishing talent first-hand.
  • (7) Even Corbyn’s fiercest critics have to concede he has achieved something astonishing.
  • (8) Recently released figures from the Veterans Administration on the number of Vietnam veterans who have been granted service connection in their claims for post-traumatic stress disorder appear to be astonishingly low, given the publicity that the media and mental health professionals have placed on this diagnosis in recent years.
  • (9) It is, in fact, quite astonishing to find British housebuilders and planners going along with the design and construction of such decent new homes.
  • (10) Over the past year, they’ve been to five continents and discovered an astonishing world of insect flavour.
  • (11) "The memorable 1961 British Home Championship yielded an astonishing 40 goals from six matches," writes Erik Kennedy.
  • (12) The complication rate was astonishingly low during IUSC: being only 4.3% (2 male patients, one with stricture of the urethra and epididymitis, one with autonomous dysreflexia with bladder overdistension).
  • (13) He added: “In the context of very surprising populist electoral successes in the US it would be astonishing if the BBC didn’t interview her.
  • (14) So how did Vanity Fair decide to illustrate this heartfelt and rather astonishing interview?
  • (15) Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said he would be astonished if the coalition had not enacted a lobbyists' register and a power to recall errant MPs by 2015.
  • (16) At one point, Hodge said she was astonished that the secretary of state had claimed that Stephens had approved Smith's role.
  • (17) Individualism – the assertion of every person’s claim to maximised private freedom and the unrestrained liberty to express autonomous desires … became the leftwing watchword of the hour.” The result was an astonishing liberation: from millennia of social, gender and sexual control by powerful, mostly elderly men.
  • (18) She is fantastically clever and when she's on about ideas she is astonishing.
  • (19) The kinetic data obtained using lysine-containing model peptides as substrates indicate an astonishing similarity to mammalian lysyloxidase.
  • (20) "We are a struggling small business and I am astonished that banks are allowed to get away with handling their accounts in this way.

Spectacular


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to a shows; of the nature of a show.
  • (a.) Adapted to excite wonder and admiration by a display of pomp or of scenic effects; as, a spectacular celebration of some event; a spectacular play.
  • (a.) Pertaining to spectacles, or glasses for the eyes.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In this book, he dismisses Freud's idea of penis envy - "Freud got it spectacularly wrong" - and said "women don't envy the penis.
  • (2) Uterine inversion is exceptional and spectacular, although treatment is simple if diagnosed early.
  • (3) An opening sequence described as “spectacular” by Amazon insiders – featuring 6,000 extras in the Californian desert, according to some reports – is estimated to have cost £2.5m alone.
  • (4) If the attacker's plan was to make important ideas disappear down the memory hole, it looks as if it has backfired spectacularly.
  • (5) In the last 2 decades, the application of new techniques in neuroanatomy has led to spectacular advances in our knowledge of the structure and function of the human spinal cord.
  • (6) The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards didn’t achieve the same degree of controversy as last year’s celebration of tongues, twerking and teddy bears , but between a speech by a homeless teen, an ill-timed wardrobe malfunction, and Beyoncé’s spectacular, epic, show-stopping finale, there were nevertheless a few moments worth watching.
  • (7) It is clear that a truly spectacular increase in our understanding of the biliary circulation has occurred during the past 5 years.
  • (8) The benefit derived from the application of recemic epinephrine with intermittent positive pressure was confirmed 15 and 30 minutes later by means of a double blind study; the improvement was swift and spectacular, but temporary; therefore, such treatment must be given only in hospitals, since relapses may show up two to four hours later, making in dangerous to send the patients home or to apply to ambulatory cases.
  • (9) The effect of tiapride on the various manifestations of agitation was also spectacular and rapid, and the authors confirm the excellent tolerance of the product.
  • (10) The national anthems Nothing to say about the Indian anthem, but the New Zealand one sounds like the theme tune for an 1960s ATV variety spectacular.
  • (11) I thought it was an interesting film, the music was spectacular.
  • (12) Woods certainly appears to have exorcised the demons that have haunted him in recent years, after his world collapsed in spectacular circumstances four years ago.
  • (13) They were there to say they had done a spectacular job.
  • (14) Rudd's spectacular fall is a fate that the now former PM, a proud man who some say is driven by a quiet rage, will find difficult to accept – he shed tears in his farewell address .
  • (15) The only entirely original stage work from this period was the spectacular one-man show Needles And Opium in 1991, which intermingled stories of love and addiction from the lives of Jean Cocteau and Miles Davis with an account of the meltdown of one of Lepage's own long-term relationships.
  • (16) From his 19th-floor newsroom Eurípedes Alcântara enjoys a spectacular view over the "new Brazil"; helicopters flit through the afternoon sky, shiny new cars honk their way across town, tower blocks and luxury shopping centres sprout like turnips from the urban sprawl.
  • (17) It's all in the name One of the German media's favourite facts about the now former defence minister is his quite spectacular name.
  • (18) Using Koufonissi as a base, there are daily excursions by caique and ferry to nearby islands, including Iraklia, where walkers can follow a pilgrims' trail across the high lands to spectacular St John's Cave, carved into a limestone cliff.
  • (19) In experimental research of the skin microvasculature the most spectacular technique was that of a human skin chamber as originated by Branemark.
  • (20) I had imagined that this would be an interesting journey, if not spectacularly scenic, since this landscape is infamously flat.