Astonishment

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈstɒnɪʃmənt/

Definitions

1. A feeling of great surprise or amazement caused by something unexpected or remarkable
2. A deep and overwhelming feeling of surprise or shock occurs when faced with something extraordinary or unforeseen
3. A strong reaction of surprise or wonder that arises when encountering an unexpected or remarkable situation occurs in a state of disbelief or admiration

Etymology: The word is built from "astonish" plus the suffix "-ment", and the suffix does more of the work than it might seem. "-ment" comes from Latin "-mentum", which turned a verb into a noun naming the result or means of an action. Latin passed it into Old French as "-ment", and English later took it on as a productive ending, so that "astonishment" names the state that results from being astonished. The verb "astonish" is itself an English formation: it came from an earlier verb "astony", meaning to stun or stupefy, which is ultimately related to the idea of being thunderstruck. In its older sense, then, astonishment was closer to a blow to the senses than to a mild sense of wonder, and the modern meaning of surprise has been softened over centuries of use.

Synonyms: surprise, amazement

Antonyms: indifference