STARTLED

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

Excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement

Example:

her startled expression

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

surprised (taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment)

Past simple / past participle of the verb startle

They were startled to notice that all the landslides originated along a distinct line.

(NASA Map Reveals a New Landslide Risk Factor, NASA)

When she had finished her meal, and was about to go back to the road of yellow brick, she was startled to hear a deep groan near by.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The suddenness and the virulence of the exclamation startled Martin.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw, but the blind man pulled me close up to him with a single action of his arm.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

At this instant, however, a startled shout rang out from two seamen upon the forecastle.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Good heavens!” I cried. “How you startled me!”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Oh, Jo, it's not so bad as that?" cried Laurie, with a startled face.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And then, one night, Matt, reading to himself with moving lips and mumbled sounds, was startled by a low whine from White Fang.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I dare say I looked a little startled.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He danced about in his agitation, a ludicrous object if it were not for his ashy face and startled eyes.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)