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

To his astonishment, the country’s Central Statistics Office had dropped price tracking of the nation’s most popular beer in 2011. —Jake Angelo, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2026

The Apple engineers’ eyes bulged in astonishment. —Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026

To his astonishment — and culinary indignation — the screen returned an absolute void. —Paula Soria, AZCentral.com, 23 Mar. 2026

Lane Hunter vented his astonishment on TikTok that AC might not be turned on in his apartment building until early or mid-May. —Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 20 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

astonish + -ment

First Known Use

1566, in the meaning defined at sense 1a