How to Use thunderbolt in a Sentence

thunderbolt

noun
  • He was struck dead by a thunderbolt.
  • Take a short walk, come to an abrupt stop, look down and pow! You’re treated to the visual thunderbolt known as Horseshoe Bend.
    — Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 11 July 2024
  • Carve up a bull, and Zeus won’t send a thunderbolt up your ass.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 2 Oct. 2017
  • The news hit Cadrez like a thunderbolt.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 1 Sep. 2025
  • Zeus could launch thunderbolts but also couldn’t keep his trousers on.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • The first one arrived with a thunderbolt scar on her from mating.
    — Maria Finn, Longreads, 28 Aug. 2017
  • Doug met Ashley and felt like he'd been struck by a thunderbolt.
    — Jim Axelrod, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2021
  • Eating lunch one day, mid-chew, the answer came to him like a thunderbolt.
    — April Reynolds, Bon Appétit, 12 Apr. 2022
  • Changes on the outside, such as stripping away a thunderbolt port.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
  • Max also wore a navy blue top with a red thunderbolt graphic, grey sweatpants, and a blue hat.
    — Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 5 June 2023
  • Zeus is portrayed as a mighty god, thunderbolt in hand, ruling from atop a high mountain.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The cross is the thunderbolt smashing your heart into a million pieces.
    — Atlanta Life, ajc, 17 Nov. 2017
  • Among such myths was the idea that thunderbolts were material objects that fell from the sky.
    — Steph Yin, New York Times, 11 June 2018
  • Forget last-gasp 30-yard thunderbolts nestling in the top corner.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Moments later, a thunderbolt struck the spot where power lines entered the home.
    — Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2021
  • To him, that's scoring a 30-yard thunderbolt into the top corner.
    — SI.com, 8 Mar. 2018
  • This thunderbolt detail brings us to the death teaser in Thor 4 trailer 2.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 30 May 2022
  • The first play of the second half brought more issues for the Vikings’ special teams, courtesy of a thunderbolt from their past.
    — Ben Goessling, Star Tribune, 17 Nov. 2020
  • In one decisive motion, like Zeus hurling a thunderbolt, my hero severed the snake in two.
    — Grant Sutton, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2022
  • The news always strikes like a thunderbolt when a talented freshman opts to remain in school for another year.
    — Nick Moyle, San Antonio Express-News, 28 Mar. 2018
  • Franklin agreed to the mutual amnesia, though not before hurling a few thunderbolts.
    — Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
  • But even in a relatively small amount of screen time, the rawness of Manville’s performance hits like a thunderbolt.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2024
  • The script saves some of its most fiery material for them, the kind of thunderbolt Sorkin-isms that land with a satisfying crack.
    — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2020
  • The slices of raw eggplant, cabbage and green beans presented with the dip help mellow, only slightly, the rank thunderbolt that hits your tongue.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
  • And just after the hour mark, the home side doubled its lead in the most impressive fashion thanks to a thunderbolt strike from Debast.
    — Ben Morse, CNN, 18 Sep. 2024
  • The electric songs that would comprise Fear of the Dawn, his Beefheartian thunderbolt of an album, spilled out.
    — Daniel Kohn, SPIN, 1 Apr. 2022
  • And there might be other reasons why Valkyrie has Zeus’s thunderbolt in Thor 4 trailer 2.
    — Chris Smith, BGR, 30 May 2022
  • In July came the thunderbolt from Washington.
    — David Folkenflik, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
  • James’ 25-yard thunderbolt at Derby, the goal that ultimately won the game, was a prime example.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2026
  • This year, even as seen on TV, the theatre felt supercharged with just and righteous anger that seemed ready to burst forth in mighty thunderbolts of apt invective.
    — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'thunderbolt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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