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Aghast - 6 dictionary results

a⋅ghast

   [uh-gast, uh-gahst]
–adjective
struck with overwhelming shock or amazement; filled with sudden fright or horror: They stood aghast at the sight of the plane crashing.
Origin:
1225–75; ME agast frightened, ptp. of agasten, equiv. to a- a- 3 + gasten, OE gǣstan to frighten, earlier *gāstjan < Gmc causative *gaistjan; see ghost
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Language Translation for : Aghast
Spanish: horrorizado, aterrorizado, German: entsetzt, Japanese: たまげた
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a·ghast     (ə-gāst')  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   Struck by shock, terror, or amazement.

[Middle English agast, past participle of agasten, to frighten : a-, intensive pref. (from Old English ā-) + gasten, to frighten (from Old English gǣstan, from gāst, ghost).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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aghast 
c.1260, agast, "terrified," pp. of M.E. agasten "to frighten," from a- intensive prefix + O.E. gæstan "to terrify," from gæst "spirit, ghost," The -gh- spelling appeared c.1425 in Scottish and is possibly a Flemish influence, or after ghost, etc. It became general after 1700.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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aghast

adjective
struck with fear, dread, or consternation 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Aghast

A*ghast"\, v. t. See Agast, v. t. [Obs.]

Aghast

A*ghast"\, a & p. p. [OE. agast, agasted, p. p. of agasten to terrify, fr. AS. pref. [=a]- (cf. Goth. us-, G. er-, orig. meaning out) + g?stan to terrify, torment: cf. Goth. usgaisjan to terrify, primitively to fix, to root to the spot with terror; akin to L. haerere to stick fast, cling. See Gaze, Hesitate.] Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror.

Aghast he waked; and, starting from his bed, Cold sweat in clammy drops his limbs o'erspread. --Dryden.

The commissioners read and stood aghast. --Macaulay.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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