aghast

adjective

ə-ˈgast

Synonyms of aghast next

: 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."

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 Of course, Putin would be aghast at an American call for regime change, and the United States would be accused of making the war existential for Putin and thus possibly prolonging it. —

Max Bergmann, Foreign Affairs, 18 July 2023 From the outset, some detractors of Netanyahu were aghast at Gantz’s decision to join a government that presided over the worst security failing in Israel’s history. —

Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024 When asked if he’s started thinking about retirement, Jones was aghast. —

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 12 June 2024 Ronald Reagan would be aghast that the GOP essentially favors Russia over the West. —

Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 19 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for aghast

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aghast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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