# astonishment
## English
### Etymology

From astonish +‎ -ment.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /əˈstɒnɪʃmənt/
* (US) IPA: /əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

astonishment (countable and uncountable, plural astonishments)
* The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.
    Synonyms: amazement, stupefaction, wonder, wonderment
    The class looked on in astonishment as their teacher proceeded to tear the pages out of the textbook.
** 1630, John Milton, “On Shakespear” in Poems of Mr. John Milton, London: Ruth Raworth, 1645 p. 27,
    Thou in our wonder and astonishment
    Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.
** 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV), page 98:[…] he dismissed all his Attendants with a turn of his Finger; at which, to my great astonishment, they vanished in an Instant, like Visions in a Dream, when we awake on a sudden.
** 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 1, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 14:At these words, Marianne’s eyes expressed the astonishment, which her lips could not utter.
** 1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 3, in Anne of Green Gables‎, Boston: L.C. Page, page 41:Marilla’s astonishment could not have been greater if Matthew had expressed a predilection for standing on his head.
** 2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 33, in Small Island‎, London: Review, page 330:Imagine my astonishment when, reaching the bustling street, every Englishwoman I look on is also attired in a dowdy housecoat.
* Something very surprising.
    Synonyms: marvel, stunner (colloquial)
** 1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth‎, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 444:To find Ned Silverton among the habitual frequenters of Mrs. Hatch’s drawing-room was one of Lily’s first astonishments;
** 1964, Roald Dahl, chapter 18, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Puffin, published 1998, page 83:Everything he had seen so far — the great chocolate river, the waterfall, the huge sucking pipes, the candy meadows, the Oompa-Loompas, the beautiful pink boat, and most of all, Mr. Willy Wonka himself — had been so astonishing that he began to wonder whether there could possibly be any more astonishments left.
* (obsolete) Loss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.
    Synonyms: paralysis, numbness
** 1583, Philip Barrough, The Method of Phisicke‎, London: Thomas Vautroullier, Book 3, Chapter 37, p. 126:[…] there followeth astonishment of the leg that is neere, that it can neither be stretched out right, nor he cannot go on his feet.
** 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXIX.] 5.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 363:[…] whosoever maketh water in the same place where a dog hath newly pissed, so as both vrines be mingled together, shall immediatly find a coldnesse and astonishment in his loines,
* (obsolete) Loss of mental faculties, inability to think or use one's senses.
    Synonym: stupor
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 60:3:Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
** 1678, Aphra Behn, chapter 2, in The Lives of Sundry Notorious Villains‎, London: for the author, page 30:Upon the Stage he so charmed the people into astonishment with his babble, that he made them buy off amain his Drugs;
* (obsolete) Loss of composure or presence of mind.
    Synonyms: consternation, dismay
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, pages 35-36:[…] where of his cruell rage Nigh dead with feare, and faint astonishment, Shee found them both in darkesome corner pent;
** 1651, Thomas Hobbes, chapter 46, in Leviathan‎, London: Andrew Crooke, page 374:[…] as when a man ignorant of the Ceremonies of Court, comming into the presence of a greater Person than he is used to speak to, and stumbling at his entrance, to save himselfe from falling, lets slip his Cloake; to recover his Cloake, lets fall his Hat; and with one disorder after another, discovers his astonishment and rusticity.

#### Derived terms

* principle of least astonishment

#### Related terms

* astonish
* astonished
* astonishing

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### References

* “astonishment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.