amazement
noun
Simple meaning
A state of overwhelming wonder, as from surprise or sudden fear, horror.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhmayzmuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈmeɪzmənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The condition of being amazed; a state of overwhelming wonder, as from surprise or sudden fear, horror, or admiration; astonishment.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The condition of being amazed; a state of overwhelming wonder, as from surprise or sudden fear, horror, or admiration; astonishment.
Used this way, amazement is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Sudden and forceful
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.