Word.ws English Dictionary

amaze

/əˈmeɪz/

amaze verb: to fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise. Also the clipping of amazing.

Verb

amaze (third-person singular simple present amazes, present participle amazing, simple past and past participle amazed)

  1. (transitive) To fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise.
    • He was amazed when he found that the girl was a robot.
    • And all the people were amazed, and ſaid, Is this the ſonne of Dauid?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 12:23, column 1
  2. (obsolete, transitive) To stun or stupefy (someone).
    • Inſtead of thinking hovv to remedy this diſorder by rallying ſuch troops as fled, or by oppoſing freſh troops to ſtop the progreſs of the conquerors, being totally amazed by this firſt blovv, he [Pompey] returned to the camp, and in his tent, vvaited the iſſue of an event, vvhich it vvas his duty...1769, [Oliver] Goldsmith, “From the Beginning of the First Triumvirate to the Death of Pompey”, in The Roman History, from the Foundation of the City of Rome, to the Destruction of the Western...
  3. (also, obsolete, reflexive, transitive) To bewilder or perplex (someone or oneself).
    • The many musits thought the which he goes / Are like a labyrinth to amaze his foes.1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 114], lines [683–684]; republished as Shakespeare’s Venus & Adonis: […], London: J[oseph] M[alaby] Dent...
    • [T]heir [flies'] breeding is ſo various and vvonderful, that I might eaſily amaze my ſelf, and tire you in a relation of them.1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter IV, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC...
  4. (obsolete, poetic, transitive) To fill (someone) with panic; to panic, to terrify.
    • It [fear] amaſeth many men that are to ſpeake, or ſhevv themſelues in publike aſſemblies, or before ſome great personages, […]1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Feare”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section...
    • Novv you muſt bee ſure […] to carry the point or top of the Rod dovvnevvard; by vvhich meanes the ſhadovv of your ſelfe, and Rod too vvill be the leaſt offenſive to the Fiſh, for the ſight of any ſhadovv amazes the fiſh, and ſpoiles your ſport, of vvhich you muſt take a great care.1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter IV, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC...
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To experience amazement; to be astounded.
    • Madam amaze not, ſee his Maieſtie / Returnd vvith glory from the holy land.1593, [George Peele], The Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First, […], London: […] Abell Ieffes, and are to be solde by William Barley, […], →OCLC, signature A3, recto
    • Pealing rays and trumpet-blazes,— / Eye is blinded, ear amazes: […]1871, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Bayard Taylor, Faust: A Tragedy. […] The Second Part. […], 11th edition, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, act...

Noun

amaze (countable and uncountable, plural amazes)

  1. (archaic, uncountable, except poetic) Amazement, astonishment; (countable) an instance of this.
    • All in amaze he ſuddenly vp ſtart / VVith ſvvord in hand, and vvith the old man vvent; […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 6, page 20
    • His faces ovvn margent did coate ſuch amazes, / That all eyes ſavv his eyes inchaunted vvith gazes.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
  2. (archaic, uncountable) Fear, terror.
    • [T]he whole rout was in amaze; his Lordſhip turned all manner of colours, my Lady fell into a ſwoon; […]1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “The Family still Resolve to Hold Up Their Heads”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 103
    • He passed over Dor-nu-Fauglith like a wind amid the dust, and all that beheld his onset fled in amaze, thinking Oromë himself was come: for a great madness of rage was upon him, so that his eyes shone like the eyes of the Valar.a. 1974 (date written), J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Quenta Silmarillion: The History of the Silmarils. Chapter XVIII. Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin.”, in Christopher...
    Synonyms:
    amazement
  3. (obsolete, uncountable) Stupefaction of the mind; bewilderment; (countable) an instance of this.
    • [T]he panicles or thin skins [of a horse] vvhich cleauing to the bones, doe couer the vvhole braine, are ſubiect to headache, mygram [migrane], dizineſſe, and amazes; […]1610, Gervase Markham, “Of the Diseases in the Head”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier...
    Synonyms:
    amazement

Also used as

amaze is also the clipping of amazing.

amaze meaning in Marathi, Arabic and Indonesian

amaze in Marathi

to fill (someone) with surprise and wonder — see also astonish
आश्चर्यचकित करणे āścaryackit karṇe
to experience amazement
आश्चर्यचकित होणे āścaryackit hoṇe

amaze in Arabic

to fill (someone) with surprise and wonder — see also astonish
عَجَّبَ ʕajjaba

amaze in Indonesian

to fill (someone) with surprise and wonder — see also astonish
menakjub

Examples of amaze in a sentence

  • One of the most remarkable speeches of that day was made by a young man, whose eccentric career was destined to amaze Europe.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VI, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown...
  • VVhy, I am all in Amaze: I muſt ſit dovvn.1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXIV”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]...
  • Presently, however, as we stood in amaze, gazing at the marvellous sight, and wondering whence the rosy radiance flowed, a dread and beautiful thing happened.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Spirit of Life”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co....
  • While the world did gaze, in deep amaze, at those fearless men but few.c. 1919, “The Foggy Dew” (track 3), in The Long Black Veil, performed by The Chieftains and Sinéad O'Connor, published 1995:

All 20 example sentences with amaze

Synonyms of amaze

All synonyms of amaze

Forms of amaze

Verb
third-person singular presentamazes
present participleamazing
past participleamazed
pastamazed
second-person singular present (archaic)amazest
second-person singular past (archaic)amazedst
third-person singular present (archaic)amazeth
Noun
pluralamazes
Adjective
comparativemore amaze
superlativemost amaze

Past tense of amaze: amazed

Origin of amaze

The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (“to bewilder, perplex”) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)), from Old English āmasian (“to confuse, astonish”), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (“to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) + maze (“(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English amase, from the verb: see above.

Words formed from amaze

Words that rhyme with amaze

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about amaze

What does amaze mean?
Amaze means to fill (someone) with surprise and wonder; to astonish, to astound, to surprise.
What is amaze in Marathi?
Amaze in Marathi is आश्चर्यचकित करणे (āścaryackit karṇe), आश्चर्यचकित होणे (āścaryackit hoṇe). See Amaze meaning in Marathi.
How do you use amaze in a sentence?
One of the most remarkable speeches of that day was made by a young man, whose eccentric career was destined to amaze Europe.
What part of speech is amaze?
Amaze can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce amaze?
Amaze is pronounced /əˈmeɪz/ (UK).
What is the past tense of amaze?
The past tense of amaze is amazed.

Words near amaze in the dictionary

  1. amayed
  2. amaying
  3. amays
  4. amaz'd
  5. amazake
  6. amaze
  7. amazeballs
  8. amazed
  9. amazedly
  10. amazedness
  11. amazeful

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: amaze (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-amaze.wav.

Cite this entry: “amaze.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/amaze. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.