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
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
Roald Dahl
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
The flip side of that is the sense of astonishment at how the history that has been written about Dial does not reflect his actual achievement, and essentially, not only limits it but imagines things that don’t actually fit.
—Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2024
In the fall of 2016, the editors of The New Yorker published an enthusiastic endorsement of Hillary Clinton:
On November 8th, barring some astonishment, the people of the United States will, after two hundred and forty years, send a woman to the White House.
—The Editors, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2024
The two travelers from New Orleans touched their fingers to the reddish-orange chile powder on a napkin, put it on their tongues, and then looked at each other in astonishment.
—John Burnett, NPR, 21 Sep. 2024
Still, Hudson is like every mother, catching herself staring at her now teenager in astonishment.
—Essence, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for astonishment 
Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2024
In the fall of 2016, the editors of The New Yorker published an enthusiastic endorsement of Hillary Clinton:
On November 8th, barring some astonishment, the people of the United States will, after two hundred and forty years, send a woman to the White House.
—The Editors, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2024
The two travelers from New Orleans touched their fingers to the reddish-orange chile powder on a napkin, put it on their tongues, and then looked at each other in astonishment.
—John Burnett, NPR, 21 Sep. 2024
Still, Hudson is like every mother, catching herself staring at her now teenager in astonishment.
—Essence, 19 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for astonishment
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'astonishment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near astonishment
Cite this Entry
“Astonishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astonishment. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
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