astonishment

noun

as·​ton·​ish·​ment ə-ˈstä-nish-mənt 

1

a

: a feeling of great surprise and wonder : the state of being astonished : amazement

The garden's beauty filled me with astonishment.

b

: consternation

2

: something that astonishes : a cause of amazement or wonder

Everything that he had seen so far … had been so astonishing that he began to wonder whether there could possibly be any more astonishments left.

—Roald Dahl

Synonyms

• admiration
• amazement
• awe
• wonder
• wonderment

Examples of astonishment in a Sentence

The garden's beauty filled me with astonishment.

A crowd watched in astonishment as he jumped from the bridge.

They discovered to their astonishment that their car had been stolen.

Much to the astonishment of her friends and family, she left school to pursue her acting career.

Recent Examples on the Web

Among those who watched in astonishment at the fundraiser were New Hampshire Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster and California U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley. —Joey Garrison, USA Today, 15 May 2025

To Jin’s astonishment, the sphere darted through the inner courtyard around to the entranceway and then directly out the main gate. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 6 May 2025

To her astonishment, the only entry inside was dated the day of the 9/11 attacks. —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025

Our initial astonishment at the prospect of extraterrestrial visitation warrants closer scrutiny. —David Chauvet, JSTOR Daily, 26 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

astonish + -ment

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1a