First recorded around 1765–75.
A variant of flabagast, which may be a combination of flabb(y), \"hanging loosely or limply\" or flap, \"a blow given with something broad and flat,\" and aghast, \"struck with overwhelming shock.\"
Sign up for more Word of the Day!

\r\nEXAMPLES OF FLABBERGAST\r\n

The magician's disappearing act never failed to flabbergast the audience.
The unexpected news about the new mayor flabbergasted the community.

\r\nIt's National Poetry Month, and we’ve created a challenge that really is for everyone. Submit now!","audio":"https://static.sfdict.com/audio/F01/F0183700.mp3","definitions":[{"partofspeech":"verb","data":"to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound."}],"examples":[],"imageUrl":"https://www.dictionary.com/e/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/flabbergast_IG.png","accentColor":"#0063D7"}},"status":"succeeded"}},"meta":{"requestId":"cT1ESXwPFrX8Cj5BI-7zC","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchWordsNearby/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"before":[{"slug":"dalasi","entry":"dalasi"},{"slug":"d-albert","entry":"d'Albert"},{"slug":"dalcroze","entry":"Dalcroze"},{"slug":"dale","entry":"dale"},{"slug":"dalek","entry":"Dalek"}],"after":[{"slug":"d-alembert-s-principle","entry":"d'Alembert's principle"},{"slug":"dalen","entry":"Dalén"},{"slug":"dales","entry":"Dales"},{"slug":"dalesman","entry":"dalesman"},{"slug":"daleth","entry":"daleth"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"d-alembert"},"requestId":"Q0jmomehWaSRpfdLsckbW","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"luna/fetchExampleSentences/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"tdb":[],"gbg":[]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"d-alembert"},"requestId":"DhbQ6kwNZb8RQwmlEH6vw","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchDictionaryResults/fulfilled","payload":{"slugs":[{"entries":[{"__typename":"Entry","audioPronunciations":[{"mpeg":"https://nonprod-audio.dictionary.com/A02/A0289300/A0289300.mp3"}],"confusableNotes":[],"genderNotes":[],"grammarNotes":[],"headword":{"displayForm":"Alembert, d'","slug":"d-alembert"},"idioms":[],"orderKey":99999010,"ordinal":10,"origin":null,"partOfSpeechBlock":[{"definitions":[{"antonymsConnection":{"edges":[]},"definitionSetChunks":"[{\"text\": \"Jean Le Rond\", \"type\": \"name\"}, {\"type\": \"pronunciation_set\", \"punc\": \"comma\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1781\", \"pronunciationGroupChunks\": [{\"type\": \"pronunciation_group\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1780\", \"ipaChunks\": [{\"text\": \"\\u0292\\u0251\\u0303 l\\u0259 \\u02c8r\\u0254\\u0303\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u1d12ccc8b4c7be82.4ec6689c.17fd01503d1.3e87\"}], \"spellChunks\": [{\"text\": \"zhah\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"n\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u1d12ccc8b4c7be82.4ec6689c.17fd01503d1.3e89\"}, {\"text\": \" l\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"uh\", \"type\": \"emphasis\", \"pointsTo\": \"u1d12ccc8b4c7be82.4ec6689c.17fd01503d1.3e8a\"}, {\"text\": \" \", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"rawn\", \"type\": \"bold\", \"pointsTo\": \"u1d12ccc8b4c7be82.4ec6689c.17fd01503d1.3e8b\"}]}]}, {\"text\": \"1717?\\u201383,\", \"type\": \"date\"}, {\"type\": \"def\", \"children\": [{\"text\": \"French mathematician, philosopher, and writer: associate of Diderot.\", \"type\": \"text\"}]}]","examples":[],"ordinal":1,"subdefinitions":[],"synonymsConnection":{"edges":[]}}],"inflectionSets":[],"labelSet":null,"ordinal":1,"partOfSpeech":"noun"}],"pronunciationNotes":[],"pronunciationSet":{"pronunciationSetChunk":"{\"type\": \"pronunciation_set\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1799\", \"pronunciationGroupChunks\": [{\"type\": \"pronunciation_group\", \"punc\": \"semi\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1798\", \"ipaChunks\": [{\"text\": \"\\u02ccd\\u00e6l \\u0259m\\u02c8b\\u025b\\u0259r\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1797\"}], \"spellChunks\": [{\"text\": \"dal-\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"uh\", \"type\": \"emphasis\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1795\"}, {\"text\": \"m-\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"bair\", \"type\": \"bold\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1794\"}]}, {\"text\": \"French\", \"type\": \"label_set\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1793\"}, {\"type\": \"pronunciation_group\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1791\", \"ipaChunks\": [{\"text\": \"da l\\u0251\\u0303\\u02c8b\\u025br\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-1790\"}], \"spellChunks\": [{\"text\": \"d\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"a\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-178e\"}, {\"text\": \"-lah\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"n\", \"type\": \"text\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-178d\"}, {\"text\": \"-\", \"type\": \"text\"}, {\"text\": \"ber\", \"type\": \"bold\", \"pointsTo\": \"u3bb48a285cbafaf0.-3bc55cee.14d9e5b1633.-178c\"}]}]}"},"relatedFormSets":[],"sensitiveNotes":[],"spellingNotes":[],"synonymStudy":[],"usageAlerts":[],"usageNotes":[],"variants":[],"verbPhrases":[]}],"url":"d-alembert"}]},"meta":{"arg":{"slug":"d-alembert"},"requestId":"TBxbQuLnVQtNTA8Ej61bp","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchResultsData/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"url":"d-alembert","displayForm":"d'Alembert","canonicalSlug":"d-alembert","content":[{"source":"collins","entries":[{"id":"u11d1def534ea1be0.1a3ea532.11d23e9e978.-5b22.1","type":"normal","entry":"d'Alembert","entrySyllabified":null,"entryVariants":"","homograph":null,"pronunciation":{"audio":null,"spell":null,"ipa":"(French dalɑ̃bɛr)"},"predefinitionContent":"","posBlocks":[{"pos":"noun","posSupplementaryInfo":"","definitions":[{"order":1,"type":"simple","predefinitionContent":"","definition":"Jean Le Rond (ʒɑ̃ lə rɔ̃). 1717–83, French mathematician, physicist, and rationalist philosopher, noted for his contribution to Newtonian physics in Traité de dynamique (1743) and for his collaboration with Diderot in editing the Encyclopédie","postdefinitionContent":""}]}],"origin":"","supplementaryNotes":[],"variantForms":[],"referenceData":[],"relatedForms":[],"derivedForms":[]}]}],"nearbyWordOrdinal":39729,"index-rank-01":["d'alembert"],"index-rank-02":["dalembert"],"index-rank-03":[],"index-rank-04":[],"index-rank-05":[],"index-rank-06":[],"index-rank-07":[],"index-rank-08":[],"index-rank-09":[],"index-rank-10":[],"index-rank-11":[],"index-rank-12":[],"index-rank-13":[],"index-rank-14":[],"index-rank-15":[],"tunaSlug":null,"isFeaturedMetaSlug":false}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"d-alembert"},"requestId":"b3NNfkdUcqRMDgFPEZopz","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}},{"type":"fetchSpellSuggestions/fulfilled","payload":{"data":{"luna":["Alembert","Lambert","lambert","Albert","albert","d'Alembert"],"tuna":["albeit","alembic","aliment","element","lambed","ailment","ambit","embed","alphabet","almost","alameda","all but","climbed","plumbed","alarm bell"],"lunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"Alembert","slug":" d'"},{"displayForm":"Lambert","slug":"lambert"},{"displayForm":"lambert","slug":"lambert"},{"displayForm":"Albert","slug":"albert"},{"displayForm":"albert","slug":"albert"},{"displayForm":"d'Alembert","slug":"d-alembert"}],"tunaWithSlug":[{"displayForm":"albeit","slug":"albeit"},{"displayForm":"alembic","slug":"alembic"},{"displayForm":"aliment","slug":"aliment"},{"displayForm":"element","slug":"element"},{"displayForm":"lambed","slug":"lambed"},{"displayForm":"ailment","slug":"ailment"},{"displayForm":"ambit","slug":"ambit"},{"displayForm":"embed","slug":"embed"},{"displayForm":"alphabet","slug":"alphabet"},{"displayForm":"almost","slug":"almost"},{"displayForm":"alameda","slug":"alameda"},{"displayForm":"all but","slug":"all%20but"},{"displayForm":"climbed","slug":"climbed"},{"displayForm":"plumbed","slug":"plumbed"},{"displayForm":"alarm bell","slug":"alarm%20bell"}]}},"meta":{"arg":{"word":"d-alembert"},"requestId":"5FODAdFhroBHuqN_8I2IR","requestStatus":"fulfilled"}}]},"actionData":null,"errors":null}

Alembert, d'

noun

Word of the Day