Astonisher

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that astonishes; an astonishing thing or event.

    "(colloquial)"

  2. 2
    Someone who astonishes.

    "[…] God, before whom all Nations are as nothing, thou Astonisher of all Flesh, thou art even too Wonderful for me,"

  3. 3
    An exclamation mark, the punctuation mark “!”. US

    "1874, The American Observer, New Series, Volume 1, “Rejoinder,” p. 525, “ […] Nothing whatever” ! (the italics are “S. S. C.’s,” the “astonisher” is mine.)"

  4. 4
    A short line of smaller type above (or sometimes below) the main headline of an article, usually placed flush-left. US
  5. 5
    A headline or lead (introductory paragraph) designed to capture attention through a surprising statement.

    "He reveled in socking the reader right in the eye with an “astonisher.”"

Synonyms

All synonyms
astonishmentcartridge leadexclamation markkickermarveloverline

Example

More examples

"[…] the railroad between Leghorn and Pisa […] has already begun to astonish Italy with a precedent of punctuality, order, plain dealing, and improvement—the most dangerous and heretical astonisher of all."

Etymology

From astonish + -er.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.