astonish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
astonishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
astonished,
past participle, past
-
astonishing
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See surprise.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
astonishsimple
-
astonishessimple
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have astonishedperfect
-
has astonishedperfect
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am astonishingprogressive
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are astonishingprogressive
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is astonishingprogressive
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have been astonishingperfect progressive
-
has been astonishingperfect progressive
Past
-
astonishedsimple
-
had astonishedperfect
-
was astonishingprogressive
-
were astonishingprogressive
-
had been astonishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of astonish
First recorded in 1525–35; Middle English astonyen, astonen, probably from unattested dialectal Old French astoner, Old French estoner, from unattested Vulgar Latin extonāre, for Latin attonāre “to strike with lightning,” equivalent to ex- ex- 1, at- at- + tonāre “to thunder”; extended by -ish 2, perhaps reflecting unattested Anglo-French astonir, from dialectal Old French; see thunder
Explanation
Things that might astonish you: the discovery of life on another planet, a death-defying performance, and the number of dinosaurs a six-year old child can name. To astonish is to amaze and astound. Remember that astonish means more than surprised. It carries with it a feeling of being truly impressed. Astonish derives from the Latin tonare 'thunder.' When you are astonished, you're thunderstruck. If you plan to astonish someone, you might say before hand, "Wait until you see this. It's going to knock your socks off."
Vocabulary lists containing astonish
"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Investment in artificial intelligence continues to astonish amid a technological arms race.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Maggie Smith never failed to illuminate and astonish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
She is now 95 and widowed, and her positivity and determination continue to astonish.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
But what would astonish — and mystify — earlier generations of U.S.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2021
It used to astonish us that everyone here has so many children: six or eight or nine.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Not particularly exhausted either, which always astonishes me.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
What always astonishes me about your letters is their length My God, their length!
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2025
"Even today, the story of my father and my mother, while giving me much pain, astonishes me still," Blouin said.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025
The architectural wonder of writer-director Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar immigrant epic “The Brutalist” astonishes onscreen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2024
Even now, a fact as ordinary, as obvious, as this astonishes him.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Fielder doesn’t believe her and is often troubled and astonished by what she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
The result astonished him and many observers of Kenyan politics – by the time the registration period ended, 2.6 million new voters across the country had signed up.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Isaiah Berlin called Alexander Herzen “a Russian Voltaire,” who astonished his 19th- century audiences with a “prodigal opulence of intellect.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
First reported by Derry Now, external, Laura said doctors were astonished when she was born with the condition in 1998.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
The other woman put a sailor cap on Klaus, who gazed in one of the mirrors, astonished at how ugly he looked.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
"To detect intact heme-derived molecules in 115-million-year-old red blood cells is astonishing: this really is a landmark discovery," Professor Grice said.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
The court also heard it was "astonishing that no-one else was injured".
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
“It is just some really jaw-dropping, astonishing amounts of money that some of these top donors have pumped into the 2026 midterms,” he added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
Most astonishing to me were their scars: the burned-out crevices, cut deep into the heart of many of the trees, some big enough to ride a horse through.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
At once Reynie was filled with an astonishing sense of well-being.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
