amaze

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled amaz’n

US /əˈmeɪz/ UK /əˈmeɪz/ See IPA manual

Freq #15654

Meanings

1

verb
To surprise someone very much; to fill with wonder.

Your ability to speak six languages amazes me!

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to surprise someone very... astonish astound surprise

More bewitch wow

Word family

Forms amazes

Derived forms amazeballsamazedamazedlyamazednessamazefulamazement amazing amazinglyamazingnessunamazedunamazedly

Related forms confuse maze mazed

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (“to bewilder, perplex”) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)), from Old English āmasian (“to confuse, astonish”), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (“to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) + maze (“(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English amase, from the verb…

*(s)meh₂- Proto-Indo-European amased Middle English āmasian Old English amase Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# amaze

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈmeɪz/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈmeɪz/
**Frequency rank:** 15654

## Meanings
1. To surprise someone very much; to fill with wonder.

## Examples
- Your ability to speak six languages amazes me!

## Synonyms
- astonish
- astound
- bewitch
- surprise
- wow

## Derived Forms
- amazeballs
- amazed
- amazedly
- amazedness
- amazeful
- amazement
- amazing
- amazingly
- amazingness
- unamazed
- unamazedly

## Related Forms
- confuse
- maze
- mazed

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)meh₂-
- Root: amased
- Root: āmasian
- Root: amase

## Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English *amasen, *amase (“to bewilder, perplex”) (attested chiefly in the past participle form, and thus often difficult to distinguish from amased (adjective)), from Old English āmasian (“to confuse, astonish”), from ā- (perfective prefix) + *masian (“to confound, confuse, perplex; to amaze”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- (“to beckon, signal”)). The English word is analysable as a- (intensifying prefix) + maze (“(archaic) to astonish, amaze, bewilder; to daze, stupefy”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English amase, from the verb…

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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