aghast

adjective

ə-ˈgast 

: struck with terror, amazement, or horror : shocked and upset

was aghast when she heard the news

Did you know?

If you are aghast, you might look like you've just seen a ghost, or something similarly shocking. Aghast traces back to a Middle English verb, gasten, meaning "to frighten." Gasten (which also gave us ghastly, meaning "terrible or frightening") comes from gast, a Middle English spelling of the word ghost. Gast also came to be used in English as a verb meaning "to scare." That verb is now obsolete, but its spirit lives on in words spoken by the character Edmund in William Shakespeare's King Lear: "gasted by the noise I made, full suddenly he fled."

Synonyms

• affrighted
• afraid
• alarmed
• fearful
• frightened
• horrified
• horror-struck
• hysterical
• hysteric
• scared
• scary
• shocked
• spooked
• terrified
• terrorized

Examples of aghast in a Sentence

The news left her aghast.

Critics were aghast to see how awful the play was.

Recent Examples on the Web

Legitimate scientists, such as virology experts uninfected by the conspiratorial fantasy that the virus originated in the lab, are aghast at the suspension of EcoHealth’s funding and the organization’s likely debarment, as well as the Democrats’ supine behavior. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2024

However, when the building was going up, all of the parishioners were aghast to learn that the parish chose to build a $250,000 rectory for three priests assigned there instead of a church. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 29 Apr. 2024

Following the nearly three-hour oral argument about presidential immunity in the Supreme Court on April 25, 2024, many commentators were aghast. —Claire B. Wofford, The Conversation, 1 May 2024

And some longtime vegans are aghast that Engelhart is now willing to play a part in killing animals. —Sam Stone, Bon Appétit, 1 May 2024

The Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives star smiled ear-to-ear while listening to Cady but looked aghast upon hearing the news of Guy Fieri Day. —Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024

Multiple industry sources were aghast at the treatment of the two schools. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024

Think any of the people aghast at Fetterman’s shorts and hoodie emitted a peep about MTG? —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 13 Mar. 2024

To say that Ladapo’s advisory left physicians and epidemiologists aghast would be a massive understatement. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration (with h after ghastly, ghost entry 1) of Middle English agast, from past participle of agasten "to frighten, become frightened," from a-, perfective prefix + gasten "to frighten" — more at abide, gast

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

aghast

adjective

ə-ˈgast 

: struck with terror, amazement, or horror