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

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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Herndon—and surely Lincoln as well—would be astonished that the future president’s first major speech has become such an organic reference point in modern political discourse.

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He added that he was "astonished" STV was not reviewing its plans for a radio station.

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"I was astonished, I was shocked," he said, adding that he believed the Al-Shamies moved to the street about 15 years ago.

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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