consternation

English

WOTD – 5 December 2009

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

From French consternation, from Latin consternātiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɒn.stəˈneɪ.ʃən/
• enPR: ʹkŏn.stər'nā.shən, IPA^(key): /ˌkɑn.stɚˈne͡ɪ.ʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

consternation (countable and uncountable, plural consternations)

1. Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay.
   • (Can we date this quote?), Chuck Klosterman:

     It was probably worth four millennia of consternation and regret.

   • (Can we date this quote?), The Awakening, Kate Chopin:

     "Out!" exclaimed her husband, with something like genuine consternation in his voice.

   • 2003, Terrance Dicks & Barry Letts, Deadly Reunion, chapter 17:

     Their audience had been listening in increasing consternation.

Translations

amazement or horror; terror, combined with amazement; dismay

• Armenian: սարսափ (hy) (sarsapʻ), ահ (hy) (ah), զարհուրանք (hy) (zarhurankʻ)
• Bulgarian: смайване (bg) n (smajvane), ужас (bg) m (užas)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 驚愕／惊愕 (zh) (jīng'è), 惊愕 (zh) (jīng'è)

• Czech: konsternace f
• Danish: bestyrtelse c
• Dutch: consternatie (nl) f, verbijstering (nl) f
• Finnish: tyrmistys (fi)
• French: consternation (fr) f, sidération (fr) f, accablement (fr) m, prostration (fr) f
• German: Bestürzung (de) f, Fassungslosigkeit (de) f
• Greek: τρόμος (el) m (trómos), ανησυχία (el) f (anisychía)

  Ancient Greek: ἔκπληξις f (ékplēxis)

• Hebrew: תַּדְהֵמָה (he), בִּלְבּוּל (he), חֲרָדָה (he), פַּחַד (he)
• Hungarian: megdöbbenés (hu), szörnyűlködés
• Irish: anbhá m
• Italian: costernazione (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 驚愕 (ja) (きょうがく, kyōgaku)
• Korean: 대경실색 (大驚失色, daegyeong silsaek)
• Latin: consternātiō f
• Manx: ard-yindys m
• Maori: pororaru, pōraruraru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bestyrtelse m

• Polish: konsternacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: consternação (pt) f
• Romanian: consternație (ro) f, consternare (ro) f
• Russian: у́жас (ru) m (úžas), оцепене́ние (ru) n (ocepenénije), испу́г (ru) m (ispúg)
• Scottish Gaelic: maoim f
• Serbo-Croatian: preneraženost (sh) f
• Spanish: consternación (es) f, abatimiento (es), postración (es)
• Swedish: bestörtning (sv), häpnad (sv)
• Turkish: dehşet (tr)

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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)

1. consternation

Further reading

• “consternation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.