amaze
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to overwhelm with surprise or sudden wonder; astonish greatly.
It will never cease to amaze me how fast children grow.
She was amazed that someone could be serious about something so incredibly absurd.
- Synonyms:
- flabbergast, stun, dumbfound, astound
-
Obsolete. to bewilder; perplex.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
to fill with incredulity or surprise; astonish
-
an obsolete word for bewilder
noun
Synonym Usage
See surprise.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
amazesimple
-
amazessimple
-
have amazedperfect
-
has amazedperfect
-
am amazingprogressive
-
are amazingprogressive
-
is amazingprogressive
-
have been amazingperfect progressive
-
has been amazingperfect progressive
Past
-
amazedsimple
-
had amazedperfect
-
was amazingprogressive
-
were amazingprogressive
-
had been amazingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of amaze
First recorded before 1000; from Middle English amasen, from Old English āmasian “to confuse, stun, astonish,” equivalent to a- 3, + unattested *masian “to confuse”; cf. maze ( def. )
Explanation
Things that amaze fill you with confusion and mystery — or they just impress you. Either way, amazing things make an impact. There are two main meanings to amaze. The first has to do with causing a feeling of puzzlement or awe. An impressive magician amazes people with tricks. Anything impressive can also amaze. A great basketball player might amaze you with a rim-rattling dunk or by hitting dozens of free throws in a row. Things that amaze also astound, astonish, and impress. Amazing things are also awesome: in the old of sense "causing awe" and the recent sense of "really cool."
Vocabulary lists containing amaze
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings,” Miyazaki once said, “that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners.”
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
“It does amaze me when people go, ‘You are so disturbing.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
Meagan’s awed expressions clearly demonstrated that as much as you know a place, you can always find more to amaze you.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
According to Mrs Butcher, one thing that still never fails to amaze her is how each wedding is unique - some more so than others.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2025
We each get fifteen minutes before the Gamemakers to amaze them with our skills, but I don’t know what any of us might have to show them.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
“It amazes me that travelers are not up in arms about the way they get treated,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
"One thing that always amazes me is that this tiny little fly does a hell of a lot; even our best AI agents and robots can't do everything that a fly does," Yang said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
What amazes Downing more, however, is his offensive acumen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
"It amazes me – they’re a mountain people, but all that’s left from that noisy temperament is a desire to hug you," says Natalya Sevets-Yermolina, who runs the Russian cultural centre Reforum in Budva.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024
It amazes me how easy it is to tune out everything else—thoughts of war on Abnegation, Tobias, Caleb, my parents, my friends, my new faction fade away.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
"They are just amazed" by the daytime high temperatures under 30C and sea breezes, as well as the lack of crowds compared to tourist hotspots in southern Europe.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
“I was amazed at how quiet it was,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"She separated the three crystal types, which themselves differed in transparency, symmetry, and luster, from all the pebbles. This ability to recognize crystals despite their differences amazed us," García-Ruiz said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Within Silicon Valley, executives are amazed at how well their stocks are doing,” said DeLeon, the San Francisco luxury broker.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
I am still amazed at what I have done.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
“The genius of the character, the cleverness, the inventiveness of him, that was a huge part of what interested me. He’s not just a soldier. He’s an amazing strategist, a very wily person.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
There is also an amazing collection of letters written primarily by Black parents to Union Army officials, asking for help freeing their children.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Thank you to this amazing family that I have the honor and the privilege and the blessing to join," Jonsson told the crowd.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
Having that discipline is amazing — 24% of Americans have no emergency savings, according to 2025 data from Bankrate.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
If he made it across to the other side, he would have an amazing story to tell his friends later.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
