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

"We were genuinely astonished by the extraordinary durability of these tiny plant cells."

Read more on Science Daily

His face is a conversation between his pleased smile and astonished eyes, expressions pushed just far enough into caricature to register as comic, but never so much as to violate the integrity of the character.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They say they are astonished by his progress in recent months.

Read more on BBC

"Had the SFO done their job, I wouldn't have lost my money. I was astonished to see the lack of any follow up," he told the BBC.

Read more on BBC

“You mean you became a pirate?” she said, astonished.

Read more on Literature

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