Word.ws English Dictionary

thunderstricken

/ˈθʌndəɹˌstɹɪkən/

thunderstricken is the past participle of thunderstrike.

Meaning of thunderstrike

Verb

thunderstrike (third-person singular simple present thunderstrikes, present participle thunderstriking, simple past thunderstruck, past participle thunderstricken)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To strike, blast, or injure by, or as if by, lightning.
    • […] some terrible bombarder of tearmes, as wilde as wildfire, that at the first flash of his fury, would leaue me thunder-stricken vpon the ground, or at the last volley of his outrage, would batter me to dust, and ashes.1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: John Wolfe, page 8
  2. (archaic, figuratively, transitive) To astonish, or strike dumb, as with something terrible.
    • At the expiration of this time, his lordship, who was already married, received a letter from his lady, who had been at the German Spa to drink the waters, intimating that she was on her return to England. This thunderstruck his lordship, who was sensible, that on her ladyship’s coming home, his...1769, Arthur Murphy, Genuine Memoirs of the Life and Adventures of the Celebrated Miss Ann Elliot, London: J. Fell and J. Roson, p

See all 3 meanings of thunderstrike

Adjective

thunderstricken (comparative more thunderstricken, superlative most thunderstricken)

  1. Thunderstruck.
    • […] I sawe straight, Maiesty (sitting in the throne of Beautie) draw foorth such a sworde of iust disdaine, that I remayned as a man thunder-striken; not daring, no not able, to beholde that power.1590, Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, London: William Ponsonbie, Book 2, Chapter 2, p. 104
    • The Doctor was so thunderstricken, that he pocketed the money without uttering a word.1831, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Eugene Aram, Complete

Forms of thunderstricken

comparativemore thunderstricken
superlativemost thunderstricken

Origin of thunderstricken

From thunder + stricken.

Questions about thunderstricken

What does thunderstricken mean?
Thunderstricken means thunderstruck.
What is thunderstricken the past participle of?
Thunderstricken is the past participle of thunderstrike.
What part of speech is thunderstricken?
Thunderstricken is an adjective.
How do you pronounce thunderstricken?
Thunderstricken is pronounced /ˈθʌndəɹˌstɹɪkən/.

Words near thunderstricken in the dictionary

  1. thunderstones
  2. thunderstorm
  3. thunderstorm asthma
  4. thunderstorms
  5. thunderstormy
  6. thunderstricken
  7. thunderstrike
  8. thunderstrikes
  9. thunderstriking
  10. thunderstroke
  11. thunderstrokes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thunderstricken (page history and authors); thunderstrike (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.

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