astonished

[uh-ston-isht]

adjective

1. filled with sudden and overpowering surprise or wonder; amazed.

   Before the eyes of the astonished crowd, the magician pulled off everything from simple card tricks to the disappearance of his lovely assistant.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of astonish.

Other Word Forms

• astonishedly adverb
• unastonished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of astonished¹

First recorded in 1510–20, for an earlier sense; astonish + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective sense; astonish + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

What Douglass found during that first White House visit astonished him.

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The fact that she was a working wife and mother was frequently brought up in press conferences at the time, with some journalists seemingly astonished that she could be both.

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He says he is astonished that he has been able to create what he calls “generational wealth” for his family, including from a medical-imaging business he sold in 2017 for $94 million.

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Ruaridh: I'm astonished that nobody seems to be mentioning Stephen Robinson for the Rangers vacancy.

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Foreigners were astonished to see that even ordinary Dutch homes displayed paintings.

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Related Words

• awed 
• baffled 
• befuddled 
• dazed 
• mystified www.thesaurus.com
• perplexed 
• puzzled www.thesaurus.com
• rattled www.thesaurus.com
• shocked www.thesaurus.com
• startled 
• stunned 
• surprised www.thesaurus.com