To dazzle means to impress or overwhelm someone with brilliance, either literally with intense light or figuratively with exceptional talent or beauty. When sunlight reflects off snow and makes you squint and look away, the brightness dazzles you. When a gymnast performs an incredibly difficult routine that leaves the audience gasping, her skill dazzles everyone watching.

The word captures that moment when something is so impressive or bright that it almost stuns you. A magician might dazzle an audience with seemingly impossible tricks. A student might dazzle her teacher with an unexpectedly insightful answer. The night sky can dazzle us with thousands of visible stars.

Dazzling means extremely impressive or beautiful: a dazzling performance, a dazzling smile, or a dazzling display of fireworks. When something dazzles you, it captures your complete attention and amazement, if only for a moment. The word suggests something special that stands out from the ordinary, something that makes you stop and notice because it shines so brightly or performs so extraordinarily.