惊人(jīng rén) - astonishing, amazing, staggering in Mandarin

惊人 (jīngrén) describes things that make people sit up: a number, a rate of growth, a memory, a scale of damage. It is built as verb plus object, startle-people, and that structure is why it attaches so comfortably to statistics and to written reports.

It is a describing word, not a feeling word. 惊人 is a property of the thing; 惊讶 (jīngyà) is the state of the person looking at it. 数字很惊人 and 我很惊讶 are the two halves of the same event and cannot be swapped.

The trap for English speakers is warmth. "Amazing" in British English has drifted into a general compliment, so a meal, a holiday or a friend can all be amazing. 惊人 keeps its edge and stays neutral about whether the surprise is welcome: 惊人的损失 is a staggering loss, not a delightful one. For food and holidays reach for 太好了, 好吃 or 厉害, and save 惊人 for the moment a figure genuinely shocks you.