From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishastonishas‧ton‧ish /əˈstɒnɪʃ $ əˈstɑː-/ ●○○ verb [transitive] SURPRISEDto surprise someone very much SYN amaze Her reply astonished me. It astonished him that she had changed so little. What astonishes me most is his complete lack of fear.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
astonish• Stan has now rediscovered the fish bed and is currently preparing new specimens to astonish and delight the world.• Einstein's work still astonishes physicists.• Though depleted by robbery in Thrace on the way home, Vulso's loot astonished the Romans for its size and quality.Origin astonish (1500-1600) astone “to astonish” ((14-17 centuries)) (from Old French estoner, from Vulgar Latin extonare, from Latin tonare “to thunder”) + -ish (as in abolish) 