Astonish meaning

ə-stŏn'ĭsh
To fill with sudden wonder or amazement.
verb
2
1
To fill with sudden wonder or great surprise; amaze.
verb
2
1
The definition of astonish is to amaze someone.

The effect a trapeze artist has on an audience is an example of astonish.

verb
0
2
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Origin of astonish

From an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, aston, astun (“to astonish, confound, stun”), from Middle English astonien, astunien, astonen, astunen, astounen (“to astound, stun, astonish”), from Old English *āstunian, from ā- (perfective prefix) + stunian (“to make a loud sound, crash, resound, roar, bang, dash, impinge, knock, confound, astonish, stupefy”), from Proto-Germanic *stunōną (“to sound, crash, bang, groan”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)ton- (“to thunder, roar, groan”), equivalent to a- +‎ stun. Compare German erstaunen (“to astonish, amaze”). Influenced by Old French estoner, estuner, estonner (“to stun”), either from an assumed Latin *extonare, or from Old Frankish *stunen (“to stun”), related to Middle High German stunen (“to knock, strike, stun”) and thus also to the Old English word above.

Sentence Examples

  • The quality and varieties of textiles and pottery astonish the collector.

  • It would astonish you to see how many words she learns in an hour in this pleasant manner.

  • If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life in years past, it would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history; it would certainly astonish those who know nothing about it.

  • But to the generals, especially the foreign ones in the Russian army, who wished to distinguish themselves, to astonish somebody, and for some reason to capture a king or a duke--it seemed that now--when any battle must be horrible and senseless--was the very time to fight and conquer somebody.

  • The mass of information contained in so small a space, the clearness and accuracy of the details, the immense amount of life which is breathed into the whole, astonish the reader, when he reflects that this colossal task was accomplished by one man, for his collaborator Kolsegg merely filled up his plan with regard to part of the east coast, a district with which Ari in his western home at Stad was little familiar.

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Words near astonish in the Dictionary