ASTONISH • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Astonish

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/əstˈɑnɪʃ/ Listen

verb

Astonish v. t. (past & past part. astonished; pres. part. astonishing)

To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow. (Obs.) "Enough, captain; you have astonished him. (Fluellen had struck Pistol)." "The very cramp-fish (i. e., torpedo)... being herself not benumbed, is able to astonish others."

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." "I, Daniel... was astonished at the vision."

Synonyms: To amaze; astound; overwhelm; surprise. 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. See Amaze.

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Etymology of 'Astonish'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Astonish" Quotes from Famous Books

... customs in making the accompaniments, and partly because the madrigal had become a field for the display of vocal agility. Already the development of colorature singing had reached a high degree of perfection. Already the singer sought to astonish the hearer by covering an air with a bewildering variety of ornaments. The time was not far off when the opera prima donna was to become the incarnation of the artistic sensuousness which had beguiled Italy with a dream of Grecian resurrection. The way had been well built, for the attention ...

— Some Forerunners of Italian Opera • William James Henderson

... I didn't think you might be a bit taken with her!' she said with an arch simplicity which could hardly be called unaffected. 'Knowing the set of your mind, from my little time with you years ago, nothing you could do in this way would astonish me.' ...

— The Well-Beloved • Thomas Hardy

... to me before dinner, by showing him how perfectly I understood. He liked to talk; he liked to defend his ideas (not that I attacked them); he liked a little perhaps—it was a pardonable weakness—to astonish the youthful mind and to feel its admiration and sympathy. I confess that my own youthful mind was considerably astonished at some of his speeches; he startled me and he made me wince. He could not help forgetting, or rather he could n't ...

— The Author of Beltraffio • Henry James

... you put this argument to proof, by trying how many front doors you can open with one key in a row of workmen's dwellings such as are found in Manchester, ranging up to L25 rentals, and the result will astonish you. If our own manufacturers made their locks sufficiently well to give this security, there would be some force in what they say; but so far as security is concerned, they might as well make their locks by machinery as make them ...

— Scientific American, Volume 40, No. 13, March 29, 1879 • Various

... still another, ad infinitum. If our arms were long enough, we should be able to grasp them as well as the first. All that it wants is the long arm to give us the command of deposits that would astonish the world. Authors have become eminent according to their power to reach further than others out into the infinite atmosphere of thought ...

— Lessons in Life - A Series of Familiar Essays • Timothy Titcomb

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