aghast
adjective /əˈɡɑːst/
/əˈɡæst/
[not before noun]- filled with horror and surprise when you see or hear something synonym horrified
- Erica looked at him aghast.
- aghast at something He stood aghast at the sight of so much blood.
Word Originlate Middle English: past participle of the obsolete verb agast, gast ‘frighten’, from Old English gǣsten. The spelling with gh (originally Scots) became general by about 1700, probably influenced by ghost; compare with ghastly.