startled 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in surprised

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2
as in alarmed

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startled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of startle
1
as in stunned
to make a strong impression on (someone) with something unexpected the lightning startled the children and sent them scurrying for cover

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2
as in jumped
to move suddenly and sharply (as in surprise) the cat startled when the door slammed shut with a bang

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3
as in frightened
to strike with fear loud noises always startle her

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of startled
Adjective
Ewart, 43, a fellow opponent of the data center project, was startled to hear that. — ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026 The startled deputy lets out a scream and races back toward his patrol vehicle. — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026 The feline was then released back into the wild, startled but safe. — Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 2 Sep. 2026 Her face, indisputably middle-aged, had a pensive, startled quality. — Madhuri Vijay, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026 Even general manager Jonah Kaplan is a little startled by the café’s increasing popularity. — Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026 As a Flamengo defender attempted to pass the ball to a teammate, the blue-and-yellow bird dove straight toward him, sending the startled teen crashing to the ground in a panic. — Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 5 Aug. 2026 One of them who’d worked with Juliatra-Monoth gave him a startled look. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 June 2026 Ahn seems mildly startled to hear his own consistency read back to him. — Joshua Encinias, IndieWire, 17 June 2026
Verb
However, startled by the activation of the security system, the suspect fled the scene without stealing any loot. — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 5 Oct. 2026 Their approach startled the predator, who took off with the mother godwit in its claws. — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026 While holding Gnocchi, a large street cleaning truck whipped down the street and startled him into clawing away. — Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026 This horror movie mostly just smelled of fake fog from a community theater production and occasionally you were startled by random bursts of air, once again pulling you from the events on screen. — Meredith G. White, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Silver carp can be startled by boat engines, launching themselves as high as 10 feet from the water and sometimes injuring boaters. — Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 27 Aug. 2026 Of those who were injured, officials said that many were hurt while falling down or hitting themselves against furniture after being startled by the earthquake while sleeping. — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 23 Aug. 2026 There’s nothing worse than waking up in the middle of a super restful sleep cycle, whether you are startled by the neighbor’s dog or an unwanted text message. — Alexandra Frost, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026 Sometimes workers would be startled by the sight of a machine moving by itself and realize it was being controlled by someone in Turkey. — Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for startled
  1. surprised
  2. alarmed
  3. stunned
  4. jumped
  5. frightened
  6. awed
  7. terrified
  8. amazed
Adjective
  • Aviation experts were surprised that the plane did not crash after a descent so extreme that most of the rudder was ripped off the tail.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Many visitors are surprised that such massive monuments representing two entirely different world religions were built just a short distance apart.
    — Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of surprised
Adjective
  • Annual interest expenses will be well over $6 billion, a level that has alarmed deal critics.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Americans are increasingly alarmed about the security and sanctity of voting, and growing fears about intimidation efforts at polling places in the midterm elections.
    — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of alarmed
Verb
  • At a small celebration dinner in San Francisco after the deal closed, Basu Trivedi was stunned by their choice of lodging.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Sabrina Carpenter stunned in a pantsless look at the 2026 MTV VMAs on September 27.
    — Christina Perrier, InStyle, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of stunned
Verb
  • Active users also climbed 96% month over month and 260% year over year in September while app downloads jumped by more than 187%.
    — Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Its revenue rose by 30% in the first months of the year, while net profit jumped 13% to $194 million.
    — Paige Bruton, semafor.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of jumped
Verb
  • The stranger’s hollow cheeks, his dark eyes, whose lashes always appeared wet, the bony shoulders that protruded from the singlet Chee Meng had lent him—all of it frightened Shawn.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Families confronting a devastating diagnosis may already be frightened, grieving and overwhelmed.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of frightened
Adjective
  • This audience listened in awed silence, and by the end of the song, everyone around us was crying as well, before jolting upward in a spontaneous standing ovation — one of three.
    — James Gunn, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Maxwell, a fiction editor at The New Yorker, drew upon his own awed discovery of France in 1948; the novel’s opening paragraphs show one of the protagonists weeping at the sight of the French shore.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
Definition of awed
Adjective
  • Even after the attacker was restrained, passengers remained terrified.
    — Mitchell McCluskey, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
  • This kind of conversation always leaves me half-amused, half-terrified.
    — Alicja Turczyk, The Dial, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of terrified
Verb
  • And especially with the stock market—I’m amazed the stock market still hasn’t really taken the hit.
    — Victoria Feng, The Atlantic, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Perhaps what amazed me the most was the breadth and the depth to which a general American public seemed to be at a tipping point around the exorbitant cost of health care and how cavernous the gap is between the one percent and the 99 percent.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of amazed

Browse Nearby Words

startle
startled
startlement
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Cite this Entry

“Startled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/startled. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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