n. 1
The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.
The class looked on in astonishment as their teacher proceeded to tear the pages out of the textbook.
n. 2
Something very surprising.
n. 3
Loss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.
n. 4
Loss of composure or presence of mind.

Related words

Word family: astonish astonished astonishing

Forms

Plural: astonishments → amazements, surprises, bewilderments, wonderments…

Choose the right word

Astonishment or Amazement?

Amazement and astonishment both express the momentary overwhelming of the mind by that which is beyond expectation. Astonishment especially affects the emotions, amazement the intellect.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

surprise To my surprise, she could not answer the question.
amazement Daniel looked at the list and froze in amazement.
bewilderment Boldi looked in Martha's direction in bewilderment.
stupor Ziri was so passionate that Rima fell into a stupor.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
astonishment		rising
surprise		rising
amazement		rising
bewilderment		rising
wonderment		rising
stupor		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

6 letters: marvel², dismay², stupor²
7 letters: stunner²
8 letters: surprise², numbness²
9 letters: paralysis⁴, amazement³
10 letters: admiration⁴, wonderment³, astonisher
11 letters: fascination⁴, flabbergast³, crogglement
12 letters: bewilderment⁴, stupefaction
13 letters: consternation⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (marvel² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: étonnement