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 of astonishment

• amazement
• admiration
• 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

Williams played to an adoring crowd at Austin's Westwood Country Club in two matches at the ATX Open this past week and left players and fans alike in astonishment at her ability to still bang with some of the best young players in the game. —Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 1 Mar. 2026

Entomologist Dmitry Telnov, who participated in the expedition, expressed particular astonishment at the find. —Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2026

Thinking back to the days leading up to the 2025 Daytona 500, Sarah Turner Wells shakes her head in astonishment. —Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2026

Even with that success, two less-than-stellar seasons in 2022 and 2023 were all Titans leadership needed to show Vrabel the door, firing him after a 6-11 season to mild astonishment from around the league. —Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 5 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

astonish + -ment

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1a