as ‧ tound /əˈstaʊnd/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Probably from the past participle of astone ; ⇨ ↑ astonish ]
to make someone very surprised or shocked SYN astonish :
The judge’s decision astounded everyone.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ surprise to make someone feel surprised, especially because they did not expect something:
Her reaction surprised me – I didn’t realize how strongly she felt.
|
What surprised me was how cheap everything was compared to at home.
▪ amaze to greatly surprise someone, for example because something is very good, unusual, or hard to believe:
He amazed everyone with his skill.
|
It amazes me that no one has thought of the idea before.
▪ astonish to greatly surprise someone:
Myra astonished her doctors by recovering so quickly.
▪ astound to greatly surprise or shock someone. Astound sounds a little more formal and a little stronger than astonish :
What astounded him was their inefficiency.
▪ take somebody by surprise to happen at an unexpected time, so that people are surprised or unprepared:
Security men were taken by surprise as the man ran onto the stage.
|
His resignation took us by surprise.
▪ startle to make someone feel surprised or slightly frightened by doing something they did not expect:
The wind made the door shut with a crash, which startled her.
|
Sudden movements may startle the horse.