How to Use aghast in a Sentence

aghast

adjective
  • The news left her aghast.
  • Critics were aghast to see how awful the play was.
  • Ann is aghast and summons her sons.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 20 Apr. 2026
  • There are others who are aghast at the idea.
    — Anand Menon, Time, 13 June 2026
  • Alex, Chip, and Paul are aghast.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2025
  • The mother seemed aghast and at a loss as to what to do.
    — Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • So much news today seems to stand aghast at how hard things are.
    — Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 May 2017
  • In the last photo, the couple looked aghast with their jaws wide open.
    — Hannah Sacks, People.com, 31 Oct. 2024
  • Knicks fans were aghast, though their anger abated the more Porzingis sat.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 10 Feb. 2022
  • The exchange left some experts aghast.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Even the announcers were aghast.
    — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
  • Everyone who had spent the past five years working on the old plan was aghast.
    — Keith Gessen, Curbed, 10 May 2021
  • His aghast tone nearly likened this event to a city being flattened by a comet.
    — George Varga, sandiegouniontribune.com, 15 Sep. 2017
  • Gehry admirers were aghast, but the man himself was amused.
    — John Rogers, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025
  • The 38-year-old was aghast and worried for his wife and six-year-old daughter.
    — Saritha Rai, Bloomberg.com, 10 Dec. 2017
  • Miller is also aghast at the sight of Hardy making tea in a microwave.
    — Kristi Turnquist, OregonLive.com, 23 June 2017
  • Shiv is aghast and, before stomping off, calls Tom an empty suit.
    — Anne Branigin, Washington Post, 29 May 2023
  • The French press was aghast, but a pattern had been established.
    — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2020
  • Needless to say, the internet was aghast that anyone would eat snow.
    — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Those who voted against him — and some who stayed home last November — were aghast.
    — J. David Goodman, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Human-rights groups—and even other Afrikaners—have been aghast.
    — Robin Wright, New Yorker, 14 May 2025
  • When a food rep attempted to upgrade the bar’s ketchup to a trendy new brand, Jones was aghast.
    — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 3 Feb. 2023
  • The Civil War veterans in the stands were aghast and that was a tough bunch.
    — Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 28 July 2023
  • Scott was aghast at the piece of the contract and called for an investigation.
    — Gray Rohrer, Sun Sentinel, 22 May 2026
  • This depiction of Douglass leaves experts in his life and times aghast.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Aug. 2023
  • But Bernthal’s Sonny isn’t aghast.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Now those fans are aghast at the thought of a rematch in the BCS title game.
    — Andy Staples, SI.com, 8 June 2012
  • Multiple industry sources were aghast at the treatment of the two schools.
    — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024
  • Some old-fashioned fishermen, used to working in the marshes, were aghast at the scale of the take.
    — Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025
  • Her boots were gone and the deck slippery with fish scales, and one of the fishermen looked aghast at her condition.
    — Jim Shepard, New Yorker, 8 June 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'aghast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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