astonish

be nothing short of (something)

To be exemplary of a particular quality (which is stated after "of"). It's nothing short of astonishing that she got the whole house cleaned in time for her dinner party. I'm surprised we weren't asked to leave the restaurant because the kids' behavior was nothing short of atrocious.
See also: nothing, of, short
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • be nothing short of (something)
  • little/nothing short of sth
  • nothing short of
  • clean up on (something)
  • clean up on something
  • wand
  • magic wand
  • color me (something)
  • excited
  • hold (someone or something) up as an example
References in periodicals archive
The forum has been organized for a hand-selected group of "client rock stars" according to Astonish Results.
"We can now be more localized to our clients in the Southeast, giving them easier access to our educational, training and office culture building opportunities," says Adam DeGraide, CEO of Astonish Results.
The Brazilian insists Nakamura is the team talisman and said: "Japan has now raised the sort of player who can astonish the world - Shunsuke is the one.
This year I went to visit a safe house and I was completely astonished by the work that they do."
Mark Reckitt, Cadbury's former chief strategic officer, said he was astonished and disappointed at the news.
SIR - I am astonished that you saw fit to publish the astonishing accusation that I have been party to 'draconian measures' that involves monitoring and checking e-mails sent to and from the Assembly (Assembly probe into IT security breach, September 23).
Dr Rumney said he was "astonished" his practice had encountered such difficulties.
"I had my suspicions, but I was astonished by what we found," Hoppman says, referring to his group's recent 1,000-page study detailing the current state of the national network;
Then Peter Honey wrote: "Am I alone in being astonished that a) anyone could ask for ideas on something so straightforward and b) there have been so many responses?
"I was astonished by the government's decision to revoke my visa.
And it's because the way stories turn out does leave us, and hopefully the audience, astonished.
Backbencher Geraldine Smith said she was astonished by the reshuffle.
The children were astonished. "Auntie," one of them whispered to me.
In a May 12 letter to the Wall Street Journal, Bundles wrote: "As Madam Walker's biographer and great-great-granddaughter, I was rather astonished to see that Lowry was thanked by von Hoffman for bringing Madam Walker to us again.
Although I favor The Hours (I adore Virginia Woolf; I admire the actors in this production; I was astonished by David Hare's screenplay), I also admire the producers of Chicago.