gobsmacked

Gobsmacked is an adjective that means completely shocked.

The word gobsmacked comes from England and Scotland, where it is used as slang to express extreme shock. Gobsmacked is often used by people from these areas.

Example: She was absolutely gobsmacked when she discovered a large pile of money under the floorboards.

Based on the parts of the word, feeling gobsmacked is equivalent to feeling like you’ve been (figuratively) hit in the mouth: gob is slang for “mouth” and smack is a verb that means “to hit.” (The suffix -ed, which is used to indicate the past tense, turns the word into an adjective.) Gobsmacked originated as English and Scottish slang, and the first records of its use come from around the mid-1930s. It’s now a common slang term in the U.K. and is also used somewhat commonly in the U.S. and other English-speaking areas.

Gobsmacked means “astounded” or “astonished,” often to the point of being speechless. But you don’t say gobsmacked just any time you want to mean “shocked.” It’s a slang term that really calls attention to the fact that you were completely not expecting what happened—a lot like flabbergasted.

Gobsmacked can be used in just about any situation when someone is shocked. For example, someone might say they were gobsmacked when they won the lottery, or when they found out that something costs way more than they thought, or when a friend surprised them with a completely unexpected visit. When was the last time you were gobsmacked?

What are some synonyms for gobsmacked?

• flabbergasted
• astonished
• astounded
• dumbfounded
• stunned

What are some words that share a root or word element with gobsmacked?

• gobstopper

Gobsmacked is a very informal way to say shocked. It’s mainly used in the U.K., but it’s not uncommon to hear elsewhere (probably because it’s so fun to say).

9 year old: “mum, what were mobiles like in the olden days?”

Me: “there weren’t any, they came about 20 years ago.”

9 year old: “that’s what I meant Mum, olden days.”

I showed her what mine looked like and she was gobsmacked. What was your first phone, mine was: pic.twitter.com/zWv55Jzu9z

— Natalie Cromb (@NatalieCromb) December 29, 2019

"I was gobsmacked, shocked. I don't know if there have been 5 people more pessimistic about the Patriots in 2019 than me. And I was stupefied that they lost this game, this way." — @getnickwrightpic.twitter.com/tE0cvfLo6i

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) December 30, 2019

thats his job. that is the thing that he does. plumber leaves me gobsmacked by fixing my sink pic.twitter.com/4VtySsHIEf

— spacenoid jackson (@headfallsoff) December 20, 2019

Which of the following words is an antonym (opposite) of gobsmacked?

A. astonished
B. amazed
C. shocked
D. unsurprised