astound
/əˈstaʊnd/ (bre, ipa) · [əstˈaʊnd] /əˈstaʊnd/ (ame, ipa) · [əstˈaʊnd] /ə-ˈstau̇nd/ (ame, mw)
astound — verb
- astoundpresent simple I / you / we / they
- astoundshe / she / it
- astoundedpast simple
- astounding-ing form
1. to fill someone with such strong amazement or disbelief that they struggle to re
to fill someone with such strong amazement or disbelief that they struggle to react — for example, hearing a quiet child suddenly play piano perfectly, or learning that a friend climbed the mountain alone.
Hassan's first painting astounded the gallery owner, who offered him a solo show on the spot.
transitive: astound + somebody
The teachers were astounded by Dewi's progress in Mandarin after only three months of study.
passive: be astounded by + noun
What astounds Padma is that the village built a new library in less than a year.
Hannah was astounded to discover that her quiet grandfather had once raced motorcycles.
The size of the old stone temple astounded every visitor who walked through its gates.
- amaze
everyday register; astound is stronger and implies near-disbelief
- astonish
near-synonym; astound carries a slightly larger shock element
- stun
stun adds a sense of being unable to speak or move; astound focuses on the mental reaction
- flabbergast
informal; suggests a comic loss of words
- bore
opposite emotional reaction — to make someone lose interest
- underwhelm
to fail to impress against expectation
文法句型
astound + somebody
be astounded by/at + noun
be astounded that + clause
be astounded to + infinitive
用法筆記
Frequently passive (be astounded by/at/that) — the experiencer is usually the grammatical subject in this pattern. Object is typically a person or group, never an abstract idea.
常見錯誤
astound — adjective
- astoundpositive
- more astoundcomparative
- most astoundsuperlative
1. in a state of being so deeply amazed by something that you can barely respond —
in a state of being so deeply amazed by something that you can barely respond — used to describe a person briefly held still by wonder or disbelief.
Élise stood astound before the painted ceiling, her notebook forgotten in one hand.
predicative use: be / stand astound
The whole audience sat astound as Felipe finished the violin piece without a single mistake.
predicative: sit astound at a performance
Sayaka looked astound at the message from her long-lost cousin in Hokkaido.
Emre seemed astound by the size of the crowd waiting outside the bookshop.
- amazed
lighter and far more common in daily speech
- dumbfounded
adds the inability to speak
- speechless
focuses on the inability to respond verbally
- unmoved
showing no emotional reaction
- indifferent
no particular interest or feeling
文法句型
be astound at/by
用法筆記
Rare and largely literary today; in modern Taiwan-learner English, the past participle 'astounded' carries this meaning. Mostly attested in older prose or formal description.