What's the difference between aghast and surprised?

Aghast


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To affright; to terrify.
  • (v. t.) See Agast, v. t.
  • (a & p. p.) Terrified; struck with amazement; showing signs of terror or horror.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But, across the Irish sea, bankers in the City were today watching nervously, aghast even, that the Irish government could take such an extraordinary step.
  • (2) GCHQ was aghast that a 29-year-old who was not even employed by the US government had access to the files, Rusbridger says.
  • (3) Arsenal v Bayern Munich: Champions League – in pictures Read more Arsenal’s extraordinary sequence of having reaching the knockout stages in each of the last 15 seasons was straying dangerously close to being discontinued until Olivier Giroud, three minutes off the substitutes’ bench, made the most of Neuer’s misjudgment to change the complexion of this match and, in turn, Group F. Neuer had produced one save earlier in the match that will linger in the memory because of its almost implausible quality but a goalkeeper of his distinction will be aghast to have misread the trajectory of Santi Cazorla’s 77th-minute free-kick.
  • (4) Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat president, said he was aghast at the tweets.
  • (5) And it is socially divisive as well.” He can’t understand May’s assertion that grammars can be introduced in a way that lifts up all schools, and is aghast at her claim that the plans will not mean a return to a “binary system”.
  • (6) Amid a tide of publicity, hopes that she might win took hold among liberal commentators aghast at the rise of extremism and militancy in Pakistan .
  • (7) Frank Gardner said the monarch personally told him she was aghast that Abu Hamza could not be arrested during the period when he regularly aired vehemently anti-British views as imam of Finsbury Park mosque in north London.
  • (8) Then there was the shot curled sumptuously on to the angle of post and bar as half-time approached that left Mourinho slumped over the wall in his dug-out, aghast that one of his players could be so bereft of fortune.
  • (9) Paterson then looked aghast as two penalty claims, against Ben Haim and Aouate, were turned down.
  • (10) H ow do you like us now?” ran the headline on the Tico Times, the English language newspaper based in Costa Rica, after the little Central American nation with a population of just 4.5m stunned Italy with a 1-0 victory to qualify for the knockout stages, eliminate England and leave observers aghast.
  • (11) She went with her mother, who was aghast when she understood why they had been called in.
  • (12) It also showed "a huge proportion of our pensions disappear in fees – with charges swallowing up to 40% of the value of the pension (over the pension's lifetime) and that the typical saver was aghast when they discovered what an apparently modest charges of 1.5% might actually mean to the eventual pay-out many years later."
  • (13) Sacher-Masoch was very much alive, and aghast to discover how his name had been used.
  • (14) Journalists trawling through the recent jobs, contacts and pronouncements of LSE academics, including directors Lord Giddens and Sir Howard Davies – who has now resigned – have been aghast.
  • (15) Green groups are aghast that a flagship policy called for in opposition by both Lib Dems and Tories, and which they last year tried to force on the Labour government, will now not be implemented in the coalition's first energy bill to be published this year.
  • (16) But the Tory leadership was aghast at Fabricant's proposal for a pact with Ukip.
  • (17) When the FA said on Monday that it was unable to charge Scudamore with bringing the game into disrepute because it was a private matter, many within the organisation were aghast that it had not also condemned the views expressed in the emails.
  • (18) Five minutes after the resumption, the manager’s feelings were plain for everyone to see: he, like Newcastle’s players and fans, was aghast when Cissé shanked the ball wide from five yards after John Ruddy spilled a long shot by Townsend.
  • (19) A senior Ukip source said the party was “absolutely aghast” at what is alleged to have happened, with just 48 days to go until the general election.
  • (20) Charles Clarke, a former home secretary, said on Today that he was aghast at the appointment and took it as an indication that Corbyn was appointing hard-left allies instead of building a broad-based shadow cabinet.

Surprised


Definition:

  • (imp. & p. p.) of Surprise

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
  • (2) Surprisingly, the clonal elimination of V beta 6+ cells is preceded by marked expansion of these cells.
  • (3) Given Australia’s number one position as the worst carbon emitter per capita among major western nations it seems hardly surprising that islanders from Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and other small island developing states have been turning to Australia with growing exasperation demanding the country demonstrate an appropriate response and responsibility.
  • (4) S&P – the only one of the three major agencies not to have stripped the UK of its coveted AAA status – said it had been surprised at the pick-up in activity during 2013 – a year that began with fears of a triple-dip recession.
  • (5) Why is it so surprising to people that a boy like Chol, just out of conflict, has thought through the needs of his country in such a detailed way?” While Beah’s zeal is laudable, the situation in South Sudan is dire .
  • (6) Diabetic retinopathy (an index of microangiopathy) and absence of peripheral pulses, amputation, or history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or transient ischemic attacks (as evidence of macroangiopathy) caused surprisingly little increase in relative risk for cardiovascular death.
  • (7) Just don’t be surprised if they ask you to repair their phones, too.
  • (8) One surprising finding is that the MAL1g-encoded maltose permease exhibits little sequence homology to the MAL1-encoded maltose permease though they appear to be functionally homologous.
  • (9) Surprisingly, however, despite the severe defect in viral DNA replication, the synthesis of a few species of viral late proteins continues in cells infected by some of the E1B mutants.
  • (10) Thus, during treatment with ethambutol visually (pattern) evoked potentials may reveal a surprisingly high percentage of subclinical optic neuritis.
  • (11) Somewhat surprisingly then, in view of the mechanisms in mammals, birds do not seem to use this seasonal message in the photoperiodic control of reproduction.
  • (12) Infants were habituated to models posing either prototypically positive displays (e.g., happy expressions) or positive expression blends (e.g., mock surprise).
  • (13) The BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said: "It was no surprise to see the January mortgage figures falling back from December, when transactions were being pushed through to beat the end of stamp duty relief.
  • (14) "We knew people would be interested in the announcement, but it's fair to say that the scale of the excitement, right across the world, took us all by surprise.
  • (15) When you have champions of financial rectitude such as the International Monetary Fund and OECD warning of the international risk of an "explosion of social unrest" and arguing for a new fiscal stimulus if growth continues to falter, it's hardly surprising that tensions in the cabinet over next month's spending review are spilling over.
  • (16) Myelodysplastic preleukemic syndromes (MDPS) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) share a surprising in vivo sensitivity to the hormonally acting 13 cis or all trans retinoic acids (transRA).
  • (17) Apple has come out fighting, which is no surprise given the remarkable success that the company has seen in recent years.
  • (18) His words surprised some because of an impression that the US was unwilling to talk about these issues.
  • (19) A teaching union has questioned appointment of a trustee of Britain's largest academy chain group as chairman of the schools regulator Ofsted , in what was a surprise announcement meant to calm some of the internal conflicts within the coalition.
  • (20) Given that a post-poll economy still registers as a crucial issue among undecided voters, and that matters economic are now his BBC day job, that was hardly surprising.