A-māze'1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. AMAZED; p. pr. & vb. n. AMAZING.] [Prefix a and maze, q. v.] To confound with fear, sudden surprise, or wonder; to confuse with terror and astonishment; to astonish.
Till the great plover's human whistle amazed Her heart, and glancing round the waste, she feared In every waving brake an ambuscade. Tennyson.
Synonyms— To astonish; confound; perplex. — To AMAZE, ASTONISH. We are amazed at what is incomprehensible; we are astonished at what is great or striking in a high degree. Both words express surprise and wonder, each, however, under its peculiar relations. Both may be used in a good sense, as applied to what gives us a high degree of pleasure; or in a bad sense, when applied to persons or things which we regard with strong disgust or reprobation. In deciding which to use, we are to be governed by the etymology; and there are cases in which either word may be employed, though of course in a different sense. Thus we may speak of being amazed, and of being astonished, at the bounties of Providence, or the rich provisions of divine grace, according to the emotion which we wish to indicate as awakened by these objects. We may be amazed at a man's folly when we can not account for his being betrayed into it: we may be astonished at it when struck with wonder at its enormity. When the Duke of Bedford reproached Lord Thurlow in the House of Lords, as a mere lawyer who had recently been elevated to the peerage, the Lord Chancellor exclaimed, “I am amazed, my lords; I am amazed at his Grace's speech. He can not look before him, or behind him, or on either side of him, without seeing some noble peer who owes his seat in this house to his successful exertions in the profession to which I belong.” When Lord Suffolk, in the same body, proposed to employ American savages to carry on the war against the colonies, Lord Chatham broke forth, “I am astonished to hear such principles expressed; I am shocked to hear them avowed in this house or in this country.” In each case, the word chosen exactly represented the emotions awakened in the speaker's mind.