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

The founders would probably be aghast if they were dropped in today’s America, says Ms. Frederick. —Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Apr. 2025

That view has left many in Europe aghast, particularly in countries near Russia, like Poland and the Baltic States. —Tomas Dapkus, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025

European leaders are aghast at America’s autocratic lurch. —David Axe, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025

Between this niggling thought in the back of some Faithfuls’ minds, as well as the fact that Danielle was so aghast at her best friend’s betrayal earlier in the final episode, the remaining contestants could not in good conscience go to the fire pit with Britney still alive and breathing. —Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2025

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

Note: Oxford English Dictionry, third edition, sees agasten as formed with Middle English gasten, though this verb is not attested until more than a century later, suggesting that gasten may have been formed by dropping the prefix from agasten. Old English gǣstan is attested only once, in Cynewulf's Juliana, and the sense appears to be closer to "afflict" than "frighten." The prefix a- in the modern adjective aghast has presumably been construed as a- entry 1.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for aghast

• amassed
• biassed
• broadcast
• bypassed
• downcast
• forecast
• foremast
• harassed
• holdfast
• mainmast
• newscast
• outcast

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Kids Definition

aghast

adjective

ə-ˈgast 

: struck with terror, amazement, or horror