Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922.

Class VI. Words Relating to the Sentient and Moral Powers
Section II. Personal Affections
4. Contemplative Affections

870. Wonder.

   NOUN:WONDER, marvel; astonishment, amazement, wonderment, bewilderment; amazedness &c. adj.; admiration, awe; stupor, stupefaction, stound [obs.], fascination; sensation; surprise (inexpectation) [See Inexpectation].
  note of admiration; thaumaturgy (sorcery) [See Sorcery].
   VERB:WONDER, marvel, admire; be surprised &c. adj.; start; stare; open -, rub -, turn up- one’s eyes; gloar [obs.]; gape, open one’s mouth, hold one’s breath; look -, stand- -aghast, – agog; look blank (disappointment) [See Disappointment]; tomber des nues [F.]; not believe one’s -eyes, – ears, – senses; not be able to account for (unintelligible) [See Unintelligibility]; not know whether one stands on one’s head or one’s heels.
  ASTONISH, surprise, amaze, astound; dumfound or dumbfound, dumfounder or dumbfounder, startle, dazzle; daze; strike, – with -wonder, – awe; electrify; stun, stupefy, petrify, confound, bewilder, flabbergast [colloq.]; stagger, throw on one’s beam ends, fascinate, turn the head, take away one’s breath, strike dumb; make one’s -hair stand on end, – tongue cleave to the roof of one’s mouth; make one stare.
  TAKE BY SURPRISE, take unawares &c. (be unexpected) [See Inexpectation].
  BE WONDERFUL &c. adj.; beggar -, baffle- description; stagger belief.
   ADJECTIVE:ASTONISHED, surprised &c. v.; aghast, all agog, breathless, agape; openmouthed; awe-, thunder-, moon-, planet- struck; spellbound; lost in -amazement, – wonder, – astonishment; struck all of a heap [colloq.], unable to believe one’s senses; like a duck in -a fit, – thunder [both colloq.].
  WONDERFUL, wondrous; surprising &c. v.; unexpected [See Inexpectation]; unheard of; mysterious (inexplicable) [See Unintelligibility]; miraculous.
  monstrous, prodigious, stupendous, marvelous; inconceivable, incredible, inimaginable [obs.], unimaginable; strange (uncommon) [See Unconformity]; passing strange.
  striking &c. v.; overwhelming; wonder-working.
  INDESCRIBABLE, inexpressible, ineffable; unutterable, unspeakable.
   ADVERB:WONDERFULLY &c. adj.; fearfully; for a wonder, in the name of wonder; strange to say; mirabile dictu [L.], mirabile visu [L.]; to one’s great surprise.
  WITH WONDER &c. n., with gaping mouth, with open eyes, with upturned eyes; with the eyes starting out of one’s head.
   INTERJECTION:LO! lo and behold! O! heyday! halloo! what! indeed! really! surely! humph! hem! good -lack, – heavens, – gracious! gad so! welladay! dear me! only think! lackadaisy! my stars! my goodness! gracious goodness! goodness gracious! mercy on us! heavens and earth! God bless me! bless us! bless my heart! odzookens! O gemini! adzooks! hoity-toity! strong! Heaven save -, bless- the mark! can such things be! zounds! ’sdeath! what on earth! what in the world! who would have thought it! (inexpectation) [See Inexpectation]; you don’t say so! what do you say to that! nous verrons! [F.], how now! where am I? fancy! do tell! [U. S.], Ciel! [F.]; what do you know! [slang, U. S.]; what do you know about that! [slang, U. S.]; well, I’ll be jiggered! [colloq.].    QUOTATIONS:

1. Vox faucibus hæsit.
2. One’s hair standing on end.
3. Oppress’d with awe And stupid at the wondrous things he saw.—Dryden
4. This is wondrous strange.—Hamlet
5. All wonder is the effect of novelty upon ignorance.—Johnson
6. Wonder is involuntary praise.—Young
7. That is ever the difference between the wise and the unwise: the latter wonders at what is unusual; the wise man wonders at the usual.—Emerson
8. The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.—Chesterton