Astonishment, n.
Etymology: [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
1. The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Obs.] A coldness and astonishment in his loins, as folk say. Holland.
2. Dismay; consternation. [Archaic] Spenser.
3. The overpowering emotion excited when something unaccountable, wonderful, or dreadful is presented to the mind; an intense degree of surprise; amazement. Lest the place And my quaint habits breed astonishment. Milton.
4. The object causing such an emotion. Thou shalt become an astonishment. Deut. xxviii. 37.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Amazement; wonder; surprise.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for astonishment; he lists it under amazement, perplexity.
Where he writes about it:
Amazement and astonishment both express the momentary overwhelming of the mind by that which is beyond expectation. — from amazement
Astonishment especially affects the emotions, amazement the intellect. — from amazement
Surprise lies midway between astonishment and amazement, and usually respects matters of lighter consequence or such as are less startling in character. — from amazement
We can say pleased surprise, but scarcely pleased astonishment. — from amazement
Astonishment may be without bewilderment or confusion. — from amazement
Perplexity (L. per, through, and plecto, plait) is the drawing or turning of the thoughts or faculties by turns in different directions or toward contrasted or contradictory conclusions; confusion (L. confusus, from confundo, pour together) is a state in which the mental faculties are, as it were, thrown into chaos, so that the clear and distinct action of the different powers, as of perception, memory, reason, and will is lost; bewilderment is akin to confusion, but is less overwhelming, and more readily recovered from; perplexity, accordingly, has not the unsettling of the faculties implied in confusion, nor the overwhelming of the faculties implied in amazement or astonishment; it is not the magnitude of the things to be known, but the want of full and definite knowledge, that causes perplexity. — from perplexity
Astonishment often produces bewilderment, which the word was formerly understood to imply. — from perplexity