astonish

verb

as·​ton·​ish ə-ˈstä-nish 

astonished; astonishing; astonishes

transitive verb

1

: to strike with sudden and usually great wonder or surprise

He was too astonished to speak

They were astonished by the vastness and majesty of the cathedral.

In retrospect, it astonishes me that we avoided a major quarrel for so long.

—Christopher Hitchens

2

obsolete : to strike with sudden fear

Synonyms

• amaze
• astound
• bowl over
• dumbfound
• dumfound
• flabbergast
• floor
• rock
• shock
• startle
• stun
• stupefy
• surprise
• surprize
• thunderstrike

Choose the Right Synonym for astonish

surprise, astonish, astound, amaze, flabbergast mean to impress forcibly through unexpectedness.

surprise stresses causing an effect through being unexpected but not necessarily unusual or novel.

surprised to find them at home

astonish implies surprising so greatly as to seem incredible.

a discovery that astonished the world

astound stresses the shock of astonishment.

too astounded to respond

amaze suggests an effect of bewilderment.

amazed by the immense size of the place

flabbergast may suggest thorough astonishment and bewilderment or dismay.

flabbergasted by his angry refusal

Examples of astonish in a Sentence

Despite the hype, there was nothing in the book to astonish readers.

The garden's beauty never fails to astonish.

Recent Examples on the Web

In the ’60s, a bar would open and the same night it would be raided — I was astonished by how everything had changed. —Nicole Acheampong, New York Times, 26 June 2024

After rounding a bend, however, I was astonished to see an enormous bonfire on a hilltop. —Tony Perrottet, Travel + Leisure, 25 June 2024

Scientists were astonished by the size and strength of the storm as satellite imagery captured the giant wall of dust in stunning detail. —Dan Stillman, Washington Post, 20 June 2024

Desert fires:On the Bush Fire scar, volunteers have begun restoring the desert, one saguaro at a time Invasive grasses help flames spread Wilder lives in Tucson, and like his fellow residents, he was astonished by the scale and intensity of the Bighorn Fire. —Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 7 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

extension by -ish, transitive verbal suffix (as in accomplish, diminish) of astone, astonne, astony "to strike with surprise or fear, stun," going back to Middle English astonen, astonien "to stun, daze, surprise, astound," borrowed from Anglo-French astuner (attested once), estoner, estuner (also continental Old French estoner), going back to Vulgar Latin *extonāre, alteration, by substitution of the suffix ex- ex- entry 1, of Latin attonāre "to strike with lightning, drive crazy" (past participle attonitus "struck with lightning, stupefied, dumbfounded"), from at- ad- + tonāre "to thunder" — more at thunder entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1534, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

astonish

verb

as·​ton·​ish ə-ˈstän-ish 

: to strike with sudden wonder or surprise

astonishingly

-iŋ-lē

adverb

astonishment

-mənt

noun