to fill with sudden wonder or great surprise; amaze
Origin of astonish
altered from Middle English astonien from Old French estoner from Vulgar Latin an unverified form extonare (for Classical Latin attonare) from ex-, intensive + tonare, to thunder
verb
The definition of astonish is to amaze someone.
The effect a trapeze artist has on an audience is an example of astonish.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"astonish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH>.
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astonish. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH
astonish
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"astonish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH>.
APA Style
astonish. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH
astonish
transitive verb
as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·esTo fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise.
Origin of astonish
Alteration of Middle English astonen from Old French estoner from Vulgar Latin extonāre Latin ex- ex- Latin tonāre to thunder ; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- a·ston′ish·ing·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"astonish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH>.
APA Style
astonish. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH
Verb
(third-person singular simple present astonishes, present participle astonishing, simple past and past participle astonished)
Origin
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.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"astonish." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 13 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH>.
APA Style
astonish. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/ASTONISH
Sentence Examples
- The quality and varieties of textiles and pottery astonish the collector.
- Some people will likely receive more expensive gifts because you have a closer relationship with them, but do not let the budget spiral out of control in order to impress or astonish people with expensive gifts.
- 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.
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WORDS NEAR astonish IN THE DICTIONARY
- astonish
- astonie
- astonied
- astoniedness