thunderstruck

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   so astonished or shocked that one is temporarily unable to react or speak

   She was thunderstruck by the news that the missing manuscript had been found.

A compound of thunder + struck. The figurative image is of a person stunned as though physically struck by a thunderbolt; compare Latin attonitus, which likewise developed from "thunderstruck" to "astonished."

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images