Adjacent Words

Astonish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASTON'ISH, v.t. [L. attono, to astonish; ad and tono. See Tone and Stun.]
To stun or strike dumb with sudden fear, terror, surprise or wonder; to amaze; to confound with some sudden passion.
I Daniel was astonished at the vision. Daniel 8.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: affect with wonder; "Your ability to speak six languages amazes me!" [syn: amaze, astonish, astound]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: probably from earlier astony (from Middle English astonen, astonien, from Anglo-French estoner to stun, from Vulgar Latin *extonare, from Latin ex- + tonare to thunder) + -ish (as in abolish) — more at thunder Date: circa 1534 1. obsolete to strike with sudden fear 2. to strike with sudden and usually great wonder or surprise <was too astonished to speak> Synonyms: see surprise

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. amaze; surprise greatly. Derivatives: astonishing adj. astonishingly adv. astonishment n. Etymology: obs. astone f. OF estoner f. Gallo-Roman: see -ISH(2)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Astonish As*ton"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Astonished; p. pr. & vb. n. Astonishing.] [OE. astonien, astunian, astonen, OF. estoner, F. ['e]tonner, fr. L. ex out + tonare to thunder, but perhaps influenced by E. stun. See Thunder, Astound, Astony.] 1. To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow. [Obs.] Enough, captain; you have astonished him. [Fluellen had struck Pistol]. --Shak. The very cramp-fish [i. e., torpedo] . . . being herself not benumbed, is able to astonish others. --Holland. 2. To strike with sudden fear, terror, or wonder; to amaze; to surprise greatly, as with something unaccountable; to confound with some sudden emotion or passion. Musidorus . . . had his wits astonished with sorrow. --Sidney. I, Daniel . . . was astonished at the vision. --Dan. viii. 27. Syn: To amaze; astound; overwhelm; surprise. Usage: Astonished, Surprised. We are surprised at what is unexpected. We are astonished at what is above or beyond our comprehension. We are taken by surprise. We are struck with astonishment. --C. J. Smith. See Amaze.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(astonishes, astonishing, astonished) If something or someone astonishes you, they surprise you very much. Her dedication constantly astonishes me. = amaze VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Amaze, surprise, startle, astound, confound, stagger, stupefy, daze, stun, dumfounder, overwhelm, astony, strike dumb, strike with wonder, petrify with wonder.

Moby Thesaurus

affright, alarm, amaze, ambush, astound, awe, awestrike, bedaze, bedazzle, bewilder, boggle, bowl down, bowl over, bushwhack, catch off-guard, catch unawares, come from behind, come upon unexpectedly, confound, daze, dazzle, do the unexpected, drop in on, dumbfound, dumbfounder, flabbergast, floor, overwhelm, paralyze, perplex, petrify, pounce upon, pull up short, shock, spring a surprise, spring upon, stagger, startle, strike dead, strike dumb, strike with wonder, stun, stupefy, surprise, take by surprise, take short, take unawares, terrify