aghast

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /əˈɡæst/ UK /əˈɡɑːst/ See IPA manual

Freq #54871

Meanings

1

adj
Filled with shock and horror.

She stood aghast as she watched the accident unfold in front of her.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · filled with shock and horror. appalled dismayed shocked

Simplified etymology

Aghast developed from agast, a form derived from Old English gaestan ‘to frighten or terrify’. The spelling aghast was originally Scottish, probably influenced by ghost, and became generally established after 1700.

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.

agast Middle English a- Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# aghast

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /əˈɡæst/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈɡɑːst/
**Frequency rank:** 54871

## Meanings
1. Filled with shock and horror.

## Examples
- She stood aghast as she watched the accident unfold in front of her.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: agast
- Root: a-

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Aghast is 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. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include agast (Middle English) and a- (Old English). Current senses include filled with shock and horror.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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