noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay. countable, uncountable

   ""Out!" exclaimed her husband, with something like genuine consternation in his voice."

2. 2
   fear resulting from the awareness of danger wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

alarmabject fearaffrightalarmastonishmentawe

Example

More examples

"He looked at me with consternation, saying that he must put a comma somewhere."

Etymology

From French consternation, from Latin consternātiō.

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