astound

astound — verb

1. to leave a person feeling so amazed or shaken that they cannot easily react, usu

1.動詞及物C1
釋義

to leave a person feeling so amazed or shaken that they cannot easily react, usually because something is far beyond what they expected.

例句

The young pianist's flawless performance astounded the judges at the Warsaw competition.

transitive: astound + somebody

Mei was astounded by how cheap the apartments in the old harbour district were.

passive: be astounded by + noun

同義詞
  • amaze

    everyday register; less intense — wonder without the shock element

  • astonish

    near-synonym; slightly softer, more about surprise than being stunned

  • stun

    emphasises being momentarily unable to speak or move

  • dumbfound

    stronger; the person is left speechless, often used in writing

反義詞
  • bore

    opposite reaction — no interest stirred at all

  • underwhelm

    the result falls short of what was expected

文法句型

astound + somebody

be astounded by/at + something

be astounded that-clause

用法筆記

Frequently passive (be astounded by/at/to/that). Stronger than 'surprise' — implies the listener or viewer is briefly unable to react. The agent is usually a fact, scale, skill, or revelation, not a person doing an ordinary action.

常見錯誤

❌I was astounded with the news.
✅I was astounded by the news.
💡use 'by' or 'at' after the passive, not 'with'.
❌The teacher astounded angrily at the class.
✅The teacher was astonished at the class.
💡'astound' is transitive only; it cannot describe the subject's own emotion without an object.