consternation
English
WOTD – 5 December 2009
Etymology
From French consternation, from Latin consternātiō.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌkɒn.stəˈneɪ.ʃən/
- (US) enPR: kŏnʹstər.nā'shən, IPA(key): /ˌkɑn.stɚˈneɪ.ʃən/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Noun
consternation (countable and uncountable, plural consternations)
- Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay.
- 1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening:
- "Out!" exclaimed her husband, with something like genuine consternation in his voice.
- 2003, Terrance Dicks & Barry Letts, chapter 17, in Deadly Reunion:
- Their audience had been listening in increasing consternation.
- February 27, 2006, Chuck Klosterman, “Invention's New Mother”, in Esquire:
- It was probably worth four millennia of consternation and regret.
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Translations
amazement or horror; terror, combined with amazement; dismay
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French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin consternātiō. Morphologically, from consterner + -ation.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃s.tɛʁ.na.sjɔ̃/
Audio (file)
Noun
consternation f (plural consternations)
- consternation
Further reading
- “consternation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.