English Dictionary |
ASTONISH
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does astonish mean?
• ASTONISH (verb)
The verb ASTONISH has 1 sense:
Familiarity information: ASTONISH used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Conjugation: |
Past simple: astonished
Past participle: astonished
-ing form: astonishing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Affect with wonder
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Synonyms:
Context example:
Your ability to speak six languages amazes me!
Hypernyms (to "astonish" is one way to...):
surprise (cause to be surprised)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "astonish"):
dazzle (amaze or bewilder, as with brilliant wit or intellect or skill)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sentence examples:
The good news will astonish her
The performance is likely to astonish Sue
Derivation:
astonishment (the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising)
Context examples
Meg jumped up, looking both proud and shy, but 'that man', as Jo called him, actually laughed and said coolly, as he kissed the astonished newcomer, "Sister Jo, congratulate us!"
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Imagination can figure nothing so grand, so surprising, and so astonishing! it looked as if ten thousand flashes of lightning were darting at the same time from every quarter of the sky.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I am astonished, my dear, said Mrs. Bennet, that you should be so ready to think your own children silly.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Astonished at the sight, I leaned forward to pick it off, when, to my horror, it burst between my finger and thumb, squirting blood in every direction.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I am astonished you found courage to refuse his hand.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He was astonished, indeed, but his character and general conduct must refute it.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
She was greatly astonished to find herself lying upon the grass, with thousands of mice standing around and looking at her timidly.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Her resolute effort threw back the lid, and gave to her astonished eyes the view of a white cotton counterpane, properly folded, reposing at one end of the chest in undisputed possession!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
It astonished her that Tom's sisters could be satisfied with remaining in London at such a time, through an illness which had now, under different degrees of danger, lasted several weeks.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
But at the same time there was a suspicious crackling movement beside him, and his astonished eye saw a young spruce sapling bending down above him to strike him.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Learn English with... Proverbs |
"A good friend is recognized in times of trouble" (Bulgarian proverb)
"If you see the fangs of the lions, don't think the lion is smiling." (Almotanabbi)
"A fine rain still soaks you to the bone, but no one takes it seriously." (Corsican proverb)