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Definition of "stupefaction" [stu•pe•fac•tion]

  • The act or an instance of stupefying. (noun)
  • The state of being stupefied. (noun)
  • Great astonishment or consternation. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "stupefaction" in a sentence
  • "It was like magic – I was expecting a mad stampede to get out of the way but the white horse-striding state troopers only froze – literally petrified in stupefaction at what to do next."
  • "The immediate effect of this beverage is not perceptible on these people, who use it so frequently; but on some of ours, who ventured to try it, though so nastily prepared, it had the same power as spirits have, in intoxicating them; or, rather, it produced that kind of stupefaction, which is the consequence of using opium, or other substances of that kind."
  • "(Nobody answers, and she makes exit.) (A moments pause, during which Starkweather, Chalmers, and Hubbard look at each other in stupefaction.)"