astonishment

English

Etymology

From astonish +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈstɒnɪʃmənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

astonishment (countable and uncountable, plural astonishments)

1. The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.

   Synonyms: amazement, stupefaction, wonder, wonderment

   The class looked on in astonishment as their teacher proceeded to tear the pages out of the textbook.

   • 1630, John Milton, “On Shakespear” in Poems of Mr. John Milton, London: Ruth Raworth, 1645 p. 27,

     Thou in our wonder and astonishment

     Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.

   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. , London: Benj Motte, , →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV), page 98:

     […] he dismissed all his Attendants with a turn of his Finger; at which, to my great astonishment, they vanished in an Instant, like Visions in a Dream, when we awake on a sudden.

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 1, in Sense and Sensibility , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: C Roworth, , and published by T Egerton, , →OCLC, page 14:

     At these words, Marianne’s eyes expressed the astonishment, which her lips could not utter.

   • 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 3, in Anne of Green Gables‎, Boston: L.C. Page, page 41:

     Marilla’s astonishment could not have been greater if Matthew had expressed a predilection for standing on his head.

   • 2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 33, in Small Island‎, London: Review, page 330:

     Imagine my astonishment when, reaching the bustling street, every Englishwoman I look on is also attired in a dowdy housecoat.

2. Something very surprising.

   Synonyms: marvel, stunner (colloquial)

   • 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth‎, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 444:

     To find Ned Silverton among the habitual frequenters of Mrs. Hatch’s drawing-room was one of Lily’s first astonishments;

   • 1964, Roald Dahl, chapter 18, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Puffin, published 1998, page 83:

     Everything he had seen so far — the great chocolate river, the waterfall, the huge sucking pipes, the candy meadows, the Oompa-Loompas, the beautiful pink boat, and most of all, Mr. Willy Wonka himself — had been so astonishing that he began to wonder whether there could possibly be any more astonishments left.

3. (obsolete) Loss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.

   Synonyms: paralysis, numbness

   • 1583, Philip Barrough, The Method of Phisicke‎, London: Thomas Vautroullier, Book 3, Chapter 37, p. 126:

     […] there followeth astonishment of the leg that is neere, that it can neither be stretched out right, nor he cannot go on his feet.

   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “ 5.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. , (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC, page 363:

     […] whosoever maketh water in the same place where a dog hath newly pissed, so as both vrines be mingled together, shall immediatly find a coldnesse and astonishment in his loines,

4. (obsolete) Loss of mental faculties, inability to think or use one's senses.

   Synonym: stupor

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Psalms 60:3:

     Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

   • 1678, Aphra Behn, chapter 2, in The Lives of Sundry Notorious Villains‎, London: for the author, page 30:

     Upon the Stage he so charmed the people into astonishment with his babble, that he made them buy off amain his Drugs;

5. (obsolete) Loss of composure or presence of mind.

   Synonyms: consternation, dismay

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, pages 35-36:

     […] where of his cruell rage
     Nigh dead with feare, and faint astonishment,
     Shee found them both in darkesome corner pent;

   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter 46, in Leviathan‎, London: Andrew Crooke, page 374:

     […] as when a man ignorant of the Ceremonies of Court, comming into the presence of a greater Person than he is used to speak to, and stumbling at his entrance, to save himselfe from falling, lets slip his Cloake; to recover his Cloake, lets fall his Hat; and with one disorder after another, discovers his astonishment and rusticity.

Derived terms

• principle of least astonishment

Related terms

• astonish
• astonished
• astonishing

Translations

References

• “astonishment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.