Meaning & use
shock value
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Meaning
noununcountable
The power of something such as a picture, remark or scene to surprise or upset people, especially when that is its main purpose.
Grammar: No plural and no a/an: the film has shock value, not a shock value.
Patterns
- for shock value
- have shock value
- rely on shock value
The band wore strange costumes purely for shock value.
The scene has little shock value now that audiences have seen far worse.
Some advertisers rely on shock value to get attention.
Common combinations
- purely for shock value
- He told the joke purely for shock value.
- rely on shock value
- The comedian relies on shock value instead of clever writing.
- lose its shock value
- Swearing on television has lost much of its shock value.
- high shock value
- The poster was designed to have high shock value.
- mere shock value
- Critics said the violence was mere shock value.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sensationalism
- Sensationalism describes a whole style, especially in news, while shock value is the effect of one particular thing.
- provocation
- Provocation suggests deliberately stirring a reaction or anger, whereas shock value stresses surprise and disgust.
- notoriety
- Notoriety is a bad reputation that results from being shocking, while shock value is the shocking quality itself.
Word family
- shock noun
- a sudden upsetting surprise
- shock verb
- to surprise and upset someone
- shocking adjective
- causing surprise and distress
- shocker noun
- informal word for something that is shocking
Practice
Choose the best phrase: "The movie includes several graphic scenes ___ , with no real purpose in the story."
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is for shock value, meaning in order to shock. The other prepositions do not form the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shock value”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.