as in to amaze
to make a strong impression on (someone) with something unexpected
the news that you and she broke up absolutely astonishes me
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of astonish
Kevin Garnett — astonished to the point of confusion — put his camcorder down instead of filming the reaction.
—
Marcus Thompson Ii, The Athletic, 15 Feb. 2025
Those who saw the first data harvests were astonished by how much radar infrastructure the Soviet Union had put in place.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2025
Understandably, the incident astonished both experts and the flying public.
—Gary Stix, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
Cohn was particularly astonished by the work of Ferenc Szöllősi (opens a new tab), a Hungarian mathematician who intentionally started with a suboptimal arrangement of spheres in dimension four and built on it to match the best existing estimate in dimension five (opens a new tab).
—Quanta Magazine, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for astonish
Marcus Thompson Ii, The Athletic, 15 Feb. 2025
Those who saw the first data harvests were astonished by how much radar infrastructure the Soviet Union had put in place.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2025
Understandably, the incident astonished both experts and the flying public.
—Gary Stix, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
Cohn was particularly astonished by the work of Ferenc Szöllősi (opens a new tab), a Hungarian mathematician who intentionally started with a suboptimal arrangement of spheres in dimension four and built on it to match the best existing estimate in dimension five (opens a new tab).
—Quanta Magazine, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for astonish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for astonish
Verb
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What amazed me was that Zeah was already on home detention for a rack of serious criminal charges.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Feb. 2025
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The Chiefs didn’t amaze us on an every-game basis, not really, anyway.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Again, no one should be surprised by Wednesday’s announcement.—
Bill McKibben,
The New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2025
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The announcement did not surprise the market given Trump had previously alluded to the move, during discussion of his upcoming 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, Piotr Ortonowski, head of copper market analysis at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, told CNBC.—
Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In the months since the militant opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stunned the world by bringing down the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024, Syria has faced many pressing concerns.—
PATRICK VINCK,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Mar. 2025
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The clip ends with a shot of a couple on the ride appearing stunned by the experience.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
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When Dutchman opened at the Cherry Lane Theater in 1964, its acerbic take on the relationship between white and Black Americans shocked audiences.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
The Hollywood Reporter,
8 Mar. 2025
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Washington’s pivot toward Moscow has not only shocked European allies but left open an opportunity for Beijing to push back against longstanding criticism of its close ties with Moscow, which have only expanded since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Lilian, startled, looked around at the door, and that made the sisters laugh: Lilian, too, was tricked, just like the hedgehog.—
Yiyun Li,
The New Yorker,
9 Mar. 2025
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Homelessness and trauma can cause people to startle reflexively when touched, Greig says, part of the reason the site’s staff offers hugs to clients and encourages them to call family.—
Ian Willms,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Astonish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/astonish. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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