Astonished

How to spell astonished

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce astonished

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does astonished mean?

1. adjectiveGreatly surprised or amazed by something unexpected.
2. verbSurprised or amazed someone greatly (past tense of astonish).

Astonished in a sentence

• adjective

  She was astonished by the size of her first paycheck.

• verb

  The final sales figures astonished the entire board.

• adjective

  The auditors looked astonished at the missing figures.

• verb

  Her quick recovery astonished the doctors who treated her.

Where does astonished come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb tonare, which literally meant 'to thunder'. In Vulgar Latin a compound extonare developed, joining ex- ('out') to that thunder root, with the vivid sense of being thunderstruck or stunned as if by a clap of lightning. The word passed into Old French as estoner, meaning to stun or daze, and English borrowed it in the medieval period, where it first appeared as 'astonien' before settling into 'astonish'. The image behind it is wonderfully physical: to be astonished was originally to be left reeling, as though a thunderbolt had knocked the wind out of you. The same Latin tonare also lies behind 'detonate' and the noun 'thunder' itself, and remembering the single 's' and single 'n' is easier once you picture that one striking bolt rather than a doubled storm.

How the word is built

• as- (from Latin ex-, 'out')
• ton (from tonare, 'to thunder')
• -ish (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past/participle)