startle
Americanverb (used with object)
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startles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
startled,
past participle, past
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startling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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startles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
startled,
past participle, past
-
startling
present participle
noun
-
a sudden shock of surprise, alarm, or the like.
-
something that startles.
verb
Synonym Usage
See shock 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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startlesimple
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startlessimple
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have startledperfect
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has startledperfect
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am startlingprogressive
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are startlingprogressive
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is startlingprogressive
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have been startlingperfect progressive
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has been startlingperfect progressive
Past
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startledsimple
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had startledperfect
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was startlingprogressive
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were startlingprogressive
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had been startlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of startle
First recorded before 1100; Middle English stertlen “to rush, caper,” equivalent to stert(en) “to begin, start” ( see start + -(e)len -le, or continuing Old English steartlian “to kick, struggle”
Explanation
To startle is to jump, like when you're surprised. If you’re sneaking through a dark room and step on a sleeping dog’s tail — you might startle the dog. If she barks, that dog startles you right back! A startle is a quick, sharp movement, like a little jump that happens when you’re surprised or suddenly scared. If you sneak up on your mom and say "Boo!" you’ll startle her and she might jump up in her seat (before she yells at you to quit it). Alarm clocks and barking dogs often startle people. The original meaning of startle, around 1300, was "to run back and forth," from the Old English word styrtan, "to leap up."
Vocabulary lists containing startle
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 5
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The Circuit
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Researchers think these markings may help startle predators.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
It triggers an automatic "startle response" to any loud noise.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Few people who have been on the national stage this long retain an ability to startle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
But when she sees another dog, everything changes: she snarls, barks loud enough to startle a city block, and lunges with so much force it takes all my strength to hold her back.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2025
I exaggerated my stride, letting my feet smack the driveway so I didn’t startle Charlie.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
More than 60 years on, the scene still startles.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
I am not sure what startles more—that the feat was achieved at all or that it was Mr. Koolhaas’s firm that pulled it off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Whether seeing the fear in combatants and civilians alike or observing how societal ills followed young servicemembers to the front, Lagoze startles in his prose just as he did in his 2019 documentary, “Combat Obscura.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
Her very English outrage startles him from his role as an Israeli Defense Forces soldier “defending my people” and into that of a teenager defending himself against accusations of being from Manchester.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2023
A whoop-whoop sound startles us, and blue lights flash in the rearview mirror.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
A field of unharvested sunflowers had attracted mixed flocks of birds, especially goldfinches and bramblings, before they were startled into the air by a sparrowhawk.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
He looked startled for a moment and then with an uncharacteristic grin replied that he considered that a welcome compliment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
"The two US deportees looked startled and kept asking which country is this and where it is," said a source.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
I was startled for a moment when I opened my top desk drawer and saw the contents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Then, when the rest of us burst out laughing, she looks away from the window, startled.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
In one startling episode, a 9-year-old Jeannette was wakened one night in the family’s home in Phoenix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The private life of disgraced Silicon Valley startup founder Elizabeth Holmes will soon be aired to the public in a startling new documentary filmed in the 34 days before she went to prison.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Most startling of all: He has presented this property gambit, where ownership remains solely with him and his wife, as an act of goodwill.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
A small splash of vinegar at the end of cooking can give a tired pot an almost startling jolt.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
It took even less time for the first sprout to break through the dirt with a loud pop, startling a nearby blackbird from its sleep.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
