agape

Definition

In a state of astonishment, wonder, expectation, or eager attention; as with mouth hanging open.

Etymology

From a- + gape. First known use by John Milton in Paradise Lost (1667).

Example Sentences

• "[…] in himself was all his state, More solemn then the tedious pomp that waits On Princes, when thir rich Retinue long Of Horses led, and Grooms besmeard with Gold Dazles the croud, and sets them all agape."
• "There I stand, agape like any country bumpkin"
• "That's all well and good; one can sit, agape, reading the copious liner notes to this or any Explorer record, but it's what's inside the jacket that counts."