Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use astonishment in a sentence

26 example sentences · noun

Astonishment means the feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise. Example: “The class looked on in astonishment as their teacher proceeded to tear the pages out of the textbook.”

Examples of astonishment by meaning

nounThe 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.
  • Marilla’s astonishment could not have been greater if Matthew had expressed a predilection for standing on his head.1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 3, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston: L.C. Page, page 41
  • Imagine my astonishment when, reaching the bustling street, every Englishwoman I look on is also attired in a dowdy housecoat.2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 33, in Small Island, London: Review, page 330

nounSomething very surprising.

  • Hatch’s drawing-room was one of Lily’s first astonishments;1905, Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, New York: Scribner, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 444
  • Willy Wonka himself — had been so astonishing that he began to wonder whether there could possibly be any more astonishments left.1964, Roald Dahl, chapter 18, in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Puffin, published 1998, page 83

More sentences with astonishment

  • I was struck dumb with astonishment.From the entry strike
  • “My toadly stepmother.” “You brought your wicked stepmother to your wedding?” asked Cara in astonishment.2010, Bruce Coville, The Last Hunt. From the entry toadly
  • Suddenly, to her astonishment and mine, it turned black and blue!2009, Steve Sisgold, What's Your Body Telling You?: Listening To Your Body's Signals to Stop Anxiety, Erase Self-Doubt and Achieve True…. From the entry twilight zone
  • A dude who wants to sell makeup?" Wanda could understand Nina's astonishment.2009 March, Dakota Cassidy, The Accidental Human, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Sensation, →ISBN, page 88. From the entry double dog dare
  • She doesn’t hold back on genuine (read nonjournalistic) gasps of “Oh my God” astonishment or delight.2007 June 3, Stuart Miller, “Loosey-Goosey Voice on, Yeah, Public Radio”, in New York Times. From the entry nonjournalistic
  • I saw in astonishment that Nekbael flew along the dim hallway on monstrous bat wings.2003, W. C. Leadbeater, “Return of the Dread Mutant Killer Glaucoma”, in The Mind-warp Era: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page…. From the entry pulse-pounding
  • My astonishment was however going to still increase with the reading of the Petit Robert.2002 May 29, Jeff, “Demandez ! demandez ! (2ème édition)”, in aus.sport.rugby-league (Usenet), retrieved 16 May 2022. From the entry impudic
  • Kind of pleased astonishment he looked, setting on the wagon in his Sunday pants, mumbling his mouth.1930, William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, Library of America, published 1985, page 80. From the entry uncurried
  • The Lethrblaka's blood, to Eragon's astonishment, was a metallic blue-green, not unlike the verdigris that forms on aged copper.2008, Christopher Paolini, “Assault on Helgrind”, in Brisingr, page 44. From the entry aged
  • Above them, more beasts frolicked in the sea: mer-unicorns, mer-dragons, mer-wolves, mer-elephants, even, Megan saw with astonishment, a mer-sphinx.1994, Patricia A. McKillip, Something Rich and Strange, published 2015, →ISBN. From the entry mer-wolf
  • A word invented by Dean Grennell to denote extreme astonishment, and very handy to describe the effect of his puns.1986 November, Walt Willis, “The Harp that Once or Twice”, in Science-Fiction Five-Yearly, number 8, page 7. From the entry crogglement
  • To my astonishment, she was grinning impishly.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 120. From the entry impishly
  • “The deuce you say!” repeated Sir John in undisguised astonishment.1910 December, E. B. Mitchell, “The Border: A Complete Novelette”, in Adventure, volume I, number 2, page 353. From the entry the deuce you say
  • It was evident that his astonishment was great.1905, Stanley John Weyman, Starvecrow Farm, Longmans, Green, and Company, page 61. From the entry overmasterful
  • I nevertheless enjoyed reminiscing with Frank Rizzo Jr., who was watching with astonishment as hordes of people continued to traipse through his family home.2019 January 3, Michael Smerconish, “The Nixon letter I can’t forget”, in CNN, archived from the original on 23 Oct 2021. From the entry Rizzo
  • “Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.2013, R. D. Power, Forbidden, page 39. From the entry beer
  • Evidently these doubts provoked not only astonishment, but concern as to whether the push for her canonization, which had even begun pre-mortem, was appropriate.2013, Karmen Mackendrick, “1. Seductive Epistemology: Thinking with Assent”, in Divine Enticement: Theological Seductions, Fordham…. From the entry pre-mortem
  • Xodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my narration of the events which had transpired within the arena at the rites of Issus.1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as…. From the entry incredulous
  • The fact, however, that astonishment has been expressed at the clamor described, warrants a review of incidents which precipitated the events referred to.1905 April 15, J. W. Midgley, “Private Cars. Why Private Car Lines were Overlooked—Thorough Investigation of Abuses Authorized. Circular…. From the entry warrant
  • Her skull was hitched under her humped shoulders and her fallen jaw made a lipless O of her mouth, giving it an expression of imbecile astonishment.1938, Norman Lindsay, chapter XX, in Age of Consent, London: T[homas] Werner Laurie […], →OCLC, page 213. From the entry o
  • I timed it successfully, and had no doubt of having added four to my score, when, to my astonishment, I saw a fieldsman running from the direction of the hedge.1920, Various, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, July 14th, 1920. From the entry fieldsman

Meaning of astonishment

  1. noun The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.
  2. noun Something very surprising.
  3. noun Loss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.

Full definition of astonishment

Questions about astonishment in a sentence

How do you use astonishment in a sentence?
Astonishment is used as a noun. For example: “The class looked on in astonishment as their teacher proceeded to tear the pages out of the textbook.”
What is a short sentence with astonishment?
“I was struck dumb with astonishment.”
What does astonishment mean?
Astonishment means the feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: astonishment (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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