astonish
Sayuh-STON-ish/əˈstɑnɪʃ/UK/əˈstɒnɪʃ/
Formsastonishes, astonishing, astonished
- 1To fill someone with great surprise.
The experimental results astonish even seasoned researchers.
His sudden act of generosity astonished everyone at the table.
Similarsurprise, astound, flabbergast
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Origin
This is probably an altered form of the earlier English 'astony', 'astone', or 'astun' (to astonish, stun), from Middle English 'astoneyen'. The ending changed to -ish by analogy with words like 'abolish', 'banish', and 'furnish'. Some compare it to Old French 'estonir', a rare variant of 'estoner' (to stun, astonish).