thunderstrike
Americanverb (used with object)
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Archaic. to strike with a thunderbolt.
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to astonish; dumfound.
Etymology
Origin of thunderstrike
1605–15; probably back formation from earlier thunderstricken (adj.); see thunder, strike
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:
Meet Flora, travel with her, play the hypocrite, with smiles on my lips and hell in my heart,--or thunderstrike her at once with the truth;--what was I to do?
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 10, August, 1858 by Various
It was now time for the baronet to feel thunderstricken.
From Willy Reilly The Works of William Carleton, Volume One by Carleton, William
The aghast and thunderstricken philosophers remained gazing at each other for a moment.
From The Twilight of the Gods, and Other Tales by Garnett, Richard
Arvina, trembling with the deep consciousness of hospitality betrayed, and feeling the first stings of remorse already, stood thunderstricken, and unable to articulate.
From The Roman Traitor, Vol. 1 by Herbert, Henry William
Louis, thunderstricken, could scarcely believe his own eyes.
From Political Women, Vol. 1 by Menzies, Sutherland, fl. 1840-1883
I have even read that various persons have found themselves under toxicological symptoms, and, as it were, thunderstricken by black-pudding that had been subjected to a too vehement fumigation.
From Madame Bovary by Aveling, Eleanor Marx
The cuts were to go into effect three days later, leaving grant recipients thunderstruck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025
More than 90 million Americans watched, thunderstruck, as TV helicopters provided live shots of the action.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
But he was "thunderstruck" when he heard the library faced closure.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2021
As Burke reports: “Georgia was thunderstruck when he showed her his new prints. A charged look passed between them.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2019
They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.