be amazed, disgusted, shocked
呆 centers on a stunned, blank reaction: being so amazed or shocked that you freeze up, or feeling disgusted to the point of speechlessness.
呆 is thought to combine 口 (mouth) and 木 (tree), but the exact historical development is uncertain. It may have originally depicted a person with a gaping mouth beside a tree, suggesting a dazed or stunned state.
Picture a mouth 口 hanging open above a stiff wooden body 木: someone so amazed or disgusted they stand frozen like a tree, unable to speak.
For ホウ, imagine a person so shocked they can only let out a hollow "hoo" sound: hoo -> ホウ, their mouth agape in disbelief.
fool; idiot; simpleton
to be amazed; to be shocked; to be astonished; to be astounded; to be disgusted; to be exasperated; to be fed up
unsatisfying; disappointing; abrupt; not enough; too quick; too short; over too soon
dumbfounded; overcome with surprise; in blank amazement; in a daze
dementia
unconcernedly; nonchalantly; indifferently; (looking) as if nothing has happened
(I'm) shocked
being taken aback; state of shock; dumbfoundedness
ridiculous
total idiot
a (single) reading (a perusal) leaves one dumbfounded
to grow senile; to be childish with age
astonished beyond words; speechless out of shock
to be dumbfounded; to be amazed
to be flabbergasted; to be dumbfounded
laughing in astonishment (at something silly or stupid); scoff
to be utterly amazed; to be stunned; to be disgusted
look of amazement; looking dumbfounded
to be taken aback; to be astonished; to be dumbfounded
dementia pugilistica; boxer's dementia; punch-drunk syndrome