flabbergast
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈflæbə(ˌ)ɡɑːst/
  • (GA) enPR: flăb′ər-găst', IPA: /ˈflæbɚˌɡæst/
Verb

flabbergast (flabbergasts, present participle flabbergasting; past and past participle flabbergasted)

  1. (transitive) To overwhelm with bewilderment; to amaze, confound, or stun, especially in a ludicrous manner. [from late 18th c.]
    Synonyms: flabbergaster, Thesaurus:surprise#Verb
    He was flabbergasted to find that his work had been done for him before he began.
    Her stupidity flabbergasts me, and I have to force myself to keep a straight face while she explains her beliefs.
    I love to flabbergast the little-minded by shattering their preconceptions about my nationality and gender.
    The oddity of the situation was so flabbergasting I couldn’t react in time for anyone to see it.
    • 1915, Fyodor Dostoevsky, chapter X, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Insulted and Injured: A Novel in Four Parts and an Epilogue [...] From the Russian (The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky; VI), London: William Heinemann, OCLC 79706181 ↗, part III, page 243 ↗:
      Well, some degree of the same pleasure may be experienced when one flabbergasts some romantic Schiller, by putting out one's tongue at him when he least expects it.
Translations Noun

flabbergast

  1. (countable) An awkward person.
    Synonyms: dork, dweeb, geek, Thesaurus:dork
  2. (uncountable) overwhelming#Adjective|Overwhelming confusion, shock#Noun|shock, or surprise#Noun|surprise.
    Synonyms: astonishment, astoundedness, awe, dumbfoundedness, flabbergaster, flabbergastation, flabbergastment, stupefaction, Thesaurus:confusion, Thesaurus:surprise
    When I saw my house on fire, the flabbergast overcame me and I just stood and stared, too shocked to comprehend what I was seeing.
    His flabbergast was so great he couldn’t even come up with a plausible answer.
Translations


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