astonishment
/əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/noun
astonishment is spelled A-S-T-O-N-I-S-H-M-E-N-T: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, astonishment means “The feeling or experience of being astonished; great surprise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of astonishment is astonishments.
How many letters and syllables are in astonishment?
| Letters | 12: A-S-T-O-N-I-S-H-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,504th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is astonishment?
Astonishment appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th 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 astonishment?
- UK /əˈstɒnɪʃmənt/
- US /əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/
Astonishment has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-astonishment.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of astonishment
- astonishments plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does astonishment mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The 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.
- 2
Something very surprising.
(colloquial)
- 3
obsoleteLoss of physical sensation; inability to move a part of the body.
- 4
obsoleteLoss of mental faculties, inability to think or use one's senses.
- 5
obsoleteLoss of composure or presence of mind.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Astonishment in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense amazement, great surprise:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | étonnement |
| German | Staunen, Erstaunen, Verwunderung |
| Portuguese | surpresa |
| Spanish | asombro, estupefacción, sorpresa, extrañeza |
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 astonishment come from?
From astonish + -ment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).