she was dumbfounded
she was shocked and almost speechless
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the American people rallied around their president. Indeed Kennedy's popularity rating was never higher, with eighty-two percent expressing their approval.
Kennedy himself was DUMBFOUNDED. "My God!" he exclaimed one day. "It's as bad as Eisenhower. The worse I do, the more popular I get!"
Kennedy himself was DUMBFOUNDED. "My God!" he exclaimed one day. "It's as bad as Eisenhower. The worse I do, the more popular I get!"
Did you
know?
dumb-found-ed
verb
To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound.
Synonyms:
surprise, astonish, amaze, astound, dumbfound, flabbergast
These verbs mean to affect a person strongly as being unexpected or unusual.
To SURPRISE is to fill with often sudden wonder or disbelief as being unanticipated or out of the ordinary: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity” (George S. Patton).
ASTONISH suggests overwhelming surprise: The sight of such an enormous crowd astonished us.
AMAZE implies astonishment and often bewilderment: The violinist's virtuosity has amazed audiences all over the world.
ASTOUND connotes shock, as from something unprecedented in one's experience: We were astounded at the beauty of the mountains.
DUMBFOUND adds to astound the suggestion of perplexity and often speechlessness: His question dumbfounded me, and I could not respond.
FLABBARGAST is used as a more colorful equivalent of astound, astonish, or amaze: “The aldermen... were... flabbergasted; they were speechless from bewilderment” (Benjamin Disraeli).
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"We were dumbfounded by Bob's suggestion that we reduce our staff by 25%"
verb
To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound.
Synonyms:
surprise, astonish, amaze, astound, dumbfound, flabbergast
These verbs mean to affect a person strongly as being unexpected or unusual.
To SURPRISE is to fill with often sudden wonder or disbelief as being unanticipated or out of the ordinary: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity” (George S. Patton).
ASTONISH suggests overwhelming surprise: The sight of such an enormous crowd astonished us.
AMAZE implies astonishment and often bewilderment: The violinist's virtuosity has amazed audiences all over the world.
ASTOUND connotes shock, as from something unprecedented in one's experience: We were astounded at the beauty of the mountains.
DUMBFOUND adds to astound the suggestion of perplexity and often speechlessness: His question dumbfounded me, and I could not respond.
FLABBARGAST is used as a more colorful equivalent of astound, astonish, or amaze: “The aldermen... were... flabbergasted; they were speechless from bewilderment” (Benjamin Disraeli).
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"We were dumbfounded by Bob's suggestion that we reduce our staff by 25%"
