Adjacent Words

Astonishing definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ASTON'ISHING, ppr. Amazing; confounding with wonder or fear.
ASTON'ISHING, a. Very wonderful; of a nature to excite great admiration, or amazement.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: surprising greatly; "she does an amazing amount of work"; "the dog was capable of astonishing tricks" [syn: amazing, astonishing]
2: so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm; "such an enormous response was astonishing"; "an astounding achievement"; "the amount of money required was staggering"; "suffered a staggering defeat"; "the figure inside the boucle dress was stupefying" [syn: astonishing, astounding, staggering, stupefying]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 1593 causing astonishment ; surprising <an astonishing discovery> • astonishingly adverb

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Astonishing As*ton"ish*ing, a. Very wonderful; of a nature to excite astonishment; as, an astonishing event. Syn: Amazing; surprising; wonderful; marvelous. As*ton"ish*ing*ly, adv. -- As*ton"ish*ing*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Something that is astonishing is very surprising. ...an astonishing display of physical strength. = amazing ADJ • astonishingly Isabella was an astonishingly beautiful young woman... ADV: ADV adj/adv, ADV with cl

Moby Thesaurus

amazing, appalling, astounding, breathtaking, confounding, conspicuous, egregious, electrifying, exceptional, extraordinary, eye-opening, fabulous, fantastic, formidable, incredible, jarring, jolting, marked, marvelous, mind-boggling, miraculous, notable, noteworthy, noticeable, of mark, outstanding, overwhelming, prodigious, remarkable, shocking, signal, spectacular, staggering, startling, striking, stunning, stupendous, superior, surprising, uncommon, wonderful, wondrous