What's the difference between astonishment and disbelief?

Astonishment


Definition:

  • (n.) The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense.
  • (n.) Dismay; consternation.
  • (n.) The overpowering emotion excited when something unaccountable, wonderful, or dreadful is presented to the mind; an intense degree of surprise; amazement.
  • (n.) The object causing such an emotion.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It is my desperate hope that we close out of town.” In the book, God publishes his own 'It Getteth Better' video and clarifies his original writings on homosexuality: I remember dictating these lines to Moses; and afterward looking up to find him staring at me in wide-eyed astonishment, and saying, "Thou do knowest that when the Israelites read this, they're going to lose their fucking shit, right?"
  • (2) To a supporter at the last election like me – someone who spoke alongside Nick Clegg at the curtain-raiser event for the party conference during the height of Labour's onslaught on civil liberties, and was assured privately by two leaders that the party was onside about civil liberties – this breach of trust and denial of principle is astonishing.
  • (3) It's that he habitually abuses his position by lobbying ministers at all; I've heard from former ministers who were astonished by the speed with which their first missive from Charles arrived, opening with the phrase: "It really is appalling".
  • (4) Puskas, possessed of a left foot of astonishing power, and his team colleagues, Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan Czibor, all found their way to Spain.
  • (5) Results of venous thrombectomies are particularly astonishingly good in phlegmasia coerulea and it is therefore mandatory to transfer all fresh cases of thrombosis of the deep veins of the peelvis and lower extremities to an angiologic center in order to differentiate cases for fibrinolytic therapy, from those which require surgical intervention.
  • (6) FWA chairman Andy Dunn said: "Those members who have been fortunate enough to be working at a match involving Luis Suárez have witnessed an astonishing talent first-hand.
  • (7) Even Corbyn’s fiercest critics have to concede he has achieved something astonishing.
  • (8) Recently released figures from the Veterans Administration on the number of Vietnam veterans who have been granted service connection in their claims for post-traumatic stress disorder appear to be astonishingly low, given the publicity that the media and mental health professionals have placed on this diagnosis in recent years.
  • (9) It is, in fact, quite astonishing to find British housebuilders and planners going along with the design and construction of such decent new homes.
  • (10) Over the past year, they’ve been to five continents and discovered an astonishing world of insect flavour.
  • (11) "The memorable 1961 British Home Championship yielded an astonishing 40 goals from six matches," writes Erik Kennedy.
  • (12) The complication rate was astonishingly low during IUSC: being only 4.3% (2 male patients, one with stricture of the urethra and epididymitis, one with autonomous dysreflexia with bladder overdistension).
  • (13) He added: “In the context of very surprising populist electoral successes in the US it would be astonishing if the BBC didn’t interview her.
  • (14) So how did Vanity Fair decide to illustrate this heartfelt and rather astonishing interview?
  • (15) Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said he would be astonished if the coalition had not enacted a lobbyists' register and a power to recall errant MPs by 2015.
  • (16) At one point, Hodge said she was astonished that the secretary of state had claimed that Stephens had approved Smith's role.
  • (17) Individualism – the assertion of every person’s claim to maximised private freedom and the unrestrained liberty to express autonomous desires … became the leftwing watchword of the hour.” The result was an astonishing liberation: from millennia of social, gender and sexual control by powerful, mostly elderly men.
  • (18) She is fantastically clever and when she's on about ideas she is astonishing.
  • (19) The kinetic data obtained using lysine-containing model peptides as substrates indicate an astonishing similarity to mammalian lysyloxidase.
  • (20) "We are a struggling small business and I am astonished that banks are allowed to get away with handling their accounts in this way.

Disbelief


Definition:

  • (n.) The act of disbelieving;; a state of the mind in which one is fully persuaded that an opinion, assertion, or doctrine is not true; refusal of assent, credit, or credence; denial of belief.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Almost a year on, I am still shaking my head in disbelief.
  • (2) When the meltdown occurred, there was a sense of utter disbelief.
  • (3) He drops his racquet in disbelief and the pair of them embrace at the net.
  • (4) I spoke to a lot of parents yesterday, who were obviously expressing their shock and disbelief at what had happened, but the message I was getting was ‘what can we do to support each other’.” “We’ve had this incident, which is beyond words, but I would urge parents to seek comfort that this is something that could never have been anticipated in a million years.
  • (5) And there's disbelief when he describes the moment ex-model Rachel Tatton-Brown (or "the hottest totty in town" as Evans describes her) pulled him in a club.
  • (6) Powell said the atmosphere in the saleroom went from excitement, to disappointment – as various bidders dropped out – to disbelief at the rocketing price.
  • (7) Jill Treanor (@jilltreanor) Matt Damon joked as starts with golden globe speech he didn't give ... Before talking of his disbelief about lack of clean water January 21, 2014 Updated at 5.34pm GMT 5.24pm GMT Key event To summarise, the key message from the Pope is that Davos must make serious progress on fixing the economic system, and that business leaders must become more focused on fixing the world's problems.
  • (8) Even worse, in many forces there is a damaging culture, based on a lack of training and understanding, in which the experiences of victims are minimised and treated with disbelief.
  • (9) Your blissfully suspended disbelief comes crashing back down to marketing-strategised reality.
  • (10) Hospital staff who attended the baby during his admission experienced the same traumatic reactions as families of SIDS victims, ie, shock, disbelief, anger, guilt, fear, blaming, sadness, and behavioral manifestations.
  • (11) Updated at 2.12pm BST 8.36pm BST Malaysia has greeted news of the MH17 crash with disbelief and horror, Tania Branigan reports from Beijing.
  • (12) What started as a swell of anger and disbelief among doctors has changed into something else.
  • (13) Variables related to the abuse and to the family's functioning are examined to determine if particular circumstances are too threatening to mothers, resulting in their disbelief.
  • (14) Residents responded in disbelief to the Russian allegation.
  • (15) Outside, where anti-Mubarak protesters and the family members of those killed were separated off from a pro-Mubarak rally by thousands of riot police and armoured personnel carriers, revolutionaries reacted with disbelief and rage as the full implication of the judge's words became apparent.
  • (16) Gathers no Moss Inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, director Mike Figgis filmed his latest digital work, Suspension of Disbelief , in Highgate, London.
  • (17) Some laughed at the comments but as the attacks from the stage continued, there were gasps and some voices could be heard expressing disbelief.
  • (18) Some added notes of disbelief that such seemingly unnecessary panic could spread so quickly.
  • (19) Is it any wonder so many in the US and around the world have responded with disbelief, with anger, with outrage to Trayvon's death?
  • (20) Little more than 50 years on, however, it is the setting for a chaotic and demeaning political battle that has even long-term parliament watchers shaking their heads in disbelief.