aghast
UK /əˈɡɑːst/ · US /əˈɡæst/ adjective
Forms agast
- adjective Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror. “I was aghast when the incident unfolded in front of me.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English agast, agasted, past participle of agasten (“to terrify”), from Old English a- (compare with Gothic 𐌿𐍃- (us-), German er-, originally meaning "out") + gæstan (“to terrify, torment”): compare Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan, “to terrify”, literally “to fix, to root to the spot with terror”); akin to Latin haerere (“to stick fast, cling”). By surface analysis, a- + ghast/gast. See gaze.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To affright; to terrify. [Obs.] Chaucer. Spenser.
- verb See Agast, v. t. [Obs.]
- participle Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror.
Etymology [OE. agast, agasted, p. p. of agasten to terrify, fr. AS. pref. a- (cf. Goth. us-, G. er-, orig. meaning out) + g to terrify, torment: cf. Goth. usgaisjan to terrify, primitively to fix, to root to the spot with terror; akin to L. haerere to stick fast, cling. See Gaze, Hesitate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “aghast”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details