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Literary notes about flabbergasted (AI summary)

In literature, the word flabbergasted is employed to evoke a sudden, overwhelming sense of awe or disbelief, often capturing a moment when characters are rendered speechless by unexpected revelations or absurd situations. Authors use it not merely as a descriptor of shock but also to add humor and irony, as characters may be portrayed as almost comically overwhelmed by events unfolding around them ([1], [2]). In some narratives, flabbergasted intensifies the dramatic impact of a scene, highlighting the stark divide between expectation and reality ([3], [4]), while in others it serves to underline a character’s stunned reaction to the world’s unpredictability ([5], [6]). This flexible use enriches the narrative texture by emphasizing both the emotional and situational nuances of surprise.
  1. But Kennedy's assurance had flabbergasted him and he obeyed.
    — from The Ear in the Wall by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
  2. he got a good whack over the head wid me mop-stick to pay for his flabbergasted stubbornness.
    — from Twenty Years of Hus'ling by J. P. (James Perry) Johnston
  3. He was so flabbergasted that he just blurted out the truth.
    — from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery
  4. “Oh, let me see—” he said one night to a flabbergasted delegation, “what club do you represent?”
    — from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  5. “Well, Alfred,” says I, pretty nearly flabbergasted to see him, “what you doin’ here?”
    — from Mark Tidd in the Backwoods by Clarence Budington Kelland
  6. Begob he was what you might call flabbergasted.
    — from Ulysses by James Joyce

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