astonish

as·ton·ish
A1S1T1O1N1I1S1H4
UK/əˈstɒnɪʃ/US/əˈstɑnɪʃ/

verb

To surprise greatly.

Similar
astoundflabbergastsurpriseastonyflooramaze
OriginMiddle English astoneyen →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

verbastonish (third-person singular simple present astonishes, present participle astonishing, simple past and past participle astonished)

present singular third person astonishes · participle present astonishing · participle past astonished · past astonished

  1. To surprise greatly.
    1 more example

    "I have no right to give my opinion," said Wickham, "as to his being agreeable or otherwise. I am not qualified to form one. I have known him too long and too well to be a fair judge. It is impossible for me to be impartial. But I believe your opinion of him would in general astonish — and perhaps you would not express it quite so strongly anywhere else. Here you are in your own family."

    1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC

    Synonyms: astound, flabbergast, surprise, astony, floor

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo surprise greatly.

Similar
astoundflabbergastsurpriseastonyfloor

More synonyms by meaning

verbaffect with wonder

Similar
amazeastound
Broader
surprise
Also see
amazeastoundbewitch

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishastoneyen
  2. Englishastonish

Probably an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, astun (“to astonish, stun”), from Middle English astoneyen, astonen (“to stun, astonish”), variant of stonen, stoneyen (“to stun, astonish”) prefixed with a-. However, compare Old French estonir, a rare variant of estoner (“to stun, astonish”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek καταπλήσσω
  • καταπλήσσω (kataplḗssō)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Arabic أَذْهَلَ
  • أَذْهَلَ (ʔaḏhala)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Basque estonatu
  • estonatuto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Bulgarian учудвам, удивлявам
  • учудвам (učudvam)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • удивлявам (udivljavam)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Chinese Mandarin 震驚 /震惊
  • 震驚 /震惊 (zhènjīng)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Czech ohromit
  • ohromitto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Danish forbavse
  • forbavseto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Dutch verbazen
  • verbazento surprise, astound, flabbergast
Esperanto mirigi
  • mirigito surprise, astound, flabbergast
Finnish hämmästyttää, ällistää
  • hämmästyttääto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • ällistääto surprise, astound, flabbergast
French étonner, surprendre
  • étonnerto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • surprendreto surprise, astound, flabbergast
German erstaunen
  • erstaunento surprise, astound, flabbergast
Greek εκπλήσσω
  • εκπλήσσω (ekplísso)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Hebrew הדהים
  • הדהים (hidhím)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Hungarian meglep, megdöbbent
  • meglepto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • megdöbbentto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Indonesian mengesima
  • mengesimato surprise, astound, flabbergast
Italian sorprendere, stupire
  • sorprendereto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • stupireto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Japanese 驚かす
  • 驚かす (odorokasu)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Māori whakaohomauri, whakaohorere
  • whakaohomaurito surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • whakaohorereto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Polish zdumiewać, zdumieć
  • zdumiewaćto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • zdumiećto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Portuguese surpreender, pasmar
  • surpreenderto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • pasmarto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Russian удивля́ть, удиви́ть
  • удивля́ть (udivljátʹ)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • удиви́ть (udivítʹ)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • изумля́ть (izumljátʹ)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • изуми́ть (izumítʹ)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Spanish asombrar, sorprender
  • asombrarto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • sorprenderto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • pasmarto surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • anonadarto surprise, astound, flabbergast
Swedish förvåna, förbluffa
  • förvånato surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • förbluffato surprise, astound, flabbergast
Ukrainian дивувати, вражати
  • дивувати (dyvuvaty)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
  • вражати (vražaty)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Yiddish פֿאַרגאַפֿן
  • פֿאַרגאַפֿן (fargafn)to surprise, astound, flabbergast
Cite this entry
APA

astonish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astonish

MLA

“astonish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astonish. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “astonish,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astonish.

Source: astonish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.