aghast
English
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aghast
- /əˈɡæst/ US
- /əˈɡɑːst/ UK
- /əˈɡast/ Northern England, Scotland
Rhymes with -æst, -ɑːst
Where it comes from
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.
adjective more aghast · most aghast · agast
- Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror. I was aghast when the incident unfolded in front of me.
Translations
Every language
adj terrified
| Español | espantado, aterrado, horrorizado |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 呆然 bōzen, あっけにとられた akke ni torareta, 愕然 gakuzen |
| 中文 | 駭然 /骇然 hàirán |
| Português | pasmo |
| Français | effaré, stupéfait, épouvanté, paniqué, effrayé, affolé |
| Deutsch | bestürzt, zutiefst erschrocken, fassungslos |
| Italiano | terrorizzato, spaventato, sgomento |
| Română | îngrozit |
| Русский | ошеломлённый ošelomljónnyj, поражённый poražónnyj |
| Tiếng Việt | kinh hãi |
Talk about this word "aghast." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/aghast. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. aghast. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/aghast "aghast." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/aghast.Cite this
@misc{aghast_2026,
title = {aghast},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/aghast},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
