astonish
as·ton·ish/əˈstɑnɪʃ/verb
astonish is spelled A-S-T-O-N-I-S-H: 8 letters and 3 syllables (as·ton·ish). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, astonish means “To surprise greatly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in astonish?
| Letters | 8: A-S-T-O-N-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: as·ton·ish |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,808th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is astonish?
Astonish appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce astonish?
- UK /əˈstɒnɪʃ/
- US /əˈstɑnɪʃ/
Astonish has 3 syllables, split as·ton·ish in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-astonish.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with astonish?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as astonish from its last stressed vowel (/ɑnɪʃ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of astonish
- astonishes present, singular, he/she/it
- astonishing participle, present
- astonished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does astonish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To surprise greatly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Astonish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to surprise, astound, flabbergast:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étonner, surprendre |
| German | erstaunen |
| Portuguese | surpreender, pasmar |
| Spanish | asombrar, sorprender, pasmar, anonadar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does astonish come from?
Probably an alteration (due to words ending in -ish: abolish, banish, cherish, establish, furnish, etc.) of earlier astony, astone, astun (“to astonish, stun”), from Middle English astoneyen, astonen (“to stun, astonish”), variant of stonen, stoneyen (“to stun, astonish”) prefixed with a-. However, compare Old French estonir, a rare variant of estoner (“to stun, astonish”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).