flabbergast

[ flab-er-gast ]

verb (used with object)

1. to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound.

   Synonyms: mystify, confuse, perplex, confound, nonplus, stagger, astonish, amaze

flabbergast

/ ˈflæbəˌɡɑːst /

verb

1. informal.
   to overcome with astonishment; amaze utterly; astound

Other Words From

• flabber·gaster noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of flabbergast¹

1765–75; variant of flabagast (perhaps flabb(y) + aghast )

Word History and Origins

Origin of flabbergast¹

C18: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

The vote could not help but flabbergast a certain kind of mainstream liberal, anxious that left-wing purity might detract from unseating President Trump next year.

From New York Times

Though I generally stuck to the main questline and sidequests, the optional tombs that I sampled were diverting puzzle boxes that sometimes stumped me but didn’t flabbergast me.

From Washington Post

Finally he chose three which looked particularly good to him—“quagmire,” “flabbergast,” and “upholstery.”

From Literature

It is wiros, meaning man in Indo-European, taken as weraldh in Germanic and weorold in Old English, emerging, flabbergast- ingly, as “world.”

From Literature

This show from the acclaimed Latino company, free for those 12 and younger, consists of excerpts from its repertory, including Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s flamenco-inspired “Línea Recta” and Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s “Flabbergast,” about his first encounter with the United States.

From New York Times

Related Words

• amaze
• astonish
• astound
• daze
• disconcert
• dumbfound
• nonplus
• stun