shock value
noun
: usefulness to surprise and usually upset people
He uses offensive language for (its) shock value.
Examples of shock value in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Minnesota Twins fans would be hard-pressed to find shock value in any player leaving their favorite team nowadays.
—
Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
At its peak, Battlefield 6’s story mode operates on the same wavelength as late-2000s military shooters, where morally gray acts of war are a dime a dozen, punctuated by the shock value of domestic threats played out with an immersive POV.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2025
The idea of clothes — especially expensive clothes — looking good on the wearer shouldn’t be a novel idea, yet recent years have seen some designers become fixated with expressing artistic creativity or generating shock value, rather than designing for wider appeal.
—Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
Adapted from legendary underground comic artist Johnny Ryan’s graphic novel of the same name, the film is a throwback to the kind of old-school midnight movie that prioritizes shock value above all else.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shock value
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Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
At its peak, Battlefield 6’s story mode operates on the same wavelength as late-2000s military shooters, where morally gray acts of war are a dime a dozen, punctuated by the shock value of domestic threats played out with an immersive POV.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2025
The idea of clothes — especially expensive clothes — looking good on the wearer shouldn’t be a novel idea, yet recent years have seen some designers become fixated with expressing artistic creativity or generating shock value, rather than designing for wider appeal.
—Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
Adapted from legendary underground comic artist Johnny Ryan’s graphic novel of the same name, the film is a throwback to the kind of old-school midnight movie that prioritizes shock value above all else.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shock value
Cite this Entry
“Shock value.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shock%20value. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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