gobsmacked
adjectiveInformal
A British English slang term. Browse all British slang.
What it means
Astounded; struck speechless with surprise.
In use
I was gobsmacked when they announced the winner.
She looked absolutely gobsmacked.
Where it comes from
From gob, dialect for 'mouth', plus smacked — the image is of being hit in the mouth, or of clapping a hand over it in shock. Northern English and Scottish in origin, national since the 1980s.
Other forms
- Similar terms:
- flabbergasted, stunned