Adjacent Words

aghast definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: struck with fear, dread, or consternation [syn: aghast, appalled, dismayed, shocked]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English agast, from past participle of agasten to frighten, from a- (perfective prefix) + gasten to frighten — more at abide, gast Date: 13th century struck with terror, amazement, or horror ; shocked

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (usu. predic.; often foll. by at) filled with dismay or consternation. Etymology: ME, past part. of obs. agast, gast frighten: see GHASTLY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Agast A*gast" or Aghast A*ghast", v. t. To affright; to terrify. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aghast A*ghast", a & p. p. [OE. agast, agasted, p. p. of agasten to terrify, fr. AS. pref. [=a]- (cf. Goth. us-, G. er-, orig. meaning out) + g?stan to terrify, torment: cf. Goth. usgaisjan to terrify, primitively to fix, to root to the spot with terror; akin to L. haerere to stick fast, cling. See Gaze, Hesitate.] Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror. Aghast he waked; and, starting from his bed, Cold sweat in clammy drops his limbs o'erspread. --Dryden. The commissioners read and stood aghast. --Macaulay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Aghast A*ghast", v. t. See Agast, v. t. [Obs.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you are aghast, you are filled with horror and surprise. (FORMAL) She watched aghast as his life flowed away... ADJ: ADJ after v, v-link ADJ, oft ADJ at n, ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Horror-struck, dismayed, horrified, appalled, terrified, frightened, panic-stricken, struck with horror. 2. Amazed, astounded, startled, astonished, dumfoundered, dumfounded (colloq.), thunderstruck.

Moby Thesaurus

afraid, agape, agog, all agog, amazed, anxious, appalled, ashen, astonished, astounded, at gaze, awed, awestricken, awestruck, beguiled, bewildered, bewitched, blanched, breathless, captivated, confounded, cowed, deadly pale, dismayed, dumbfounded, dumbstruck, enchanted, enraptured, enravished, enthralled, entranced, fascinated, fearful, flabbergasted, frightened, frozen, gaping, gauping, gazing, gray with fear, horrified, horror-struck, hypnotized, in awe, in awe of, intimidated, lost in wonder, marveling, mesmerized, open-eyed, openmouthed, overwhelmed, pale as death, pallid, paralyzed, petrified, popeyed, puzzled, rapt in wonder, scared, scared stiff, scared to death, scary, shocked, spellbound, staggered, staring, startled, stunned, stupefied, surprised, taken aback, terrified, terror-crazed, terror-haunted, terror-ridden, terror-riven, terror-shaken, terror-smitten, terror-struck, terror-troubled, thunderstruck, under a charm, undone, unmanned, unnerved, unstrung, wide-eyed, wonder-struck, wondering