jump scare
Americannoun
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.
That’d be a jump scare as it is, but the images blowing up Violet’s phone quickly become unnervingly specific and personal.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2025
It’s important that the pervasive jump scare could happen to you.
From Slate • Jul. 22, 2024
Instead of jump scare after jump scare, Saul’s novels aim to take readers on an eerie journey during which empathy is built for the characters, and evil and mystic ongoings don’t just happen without reason.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 27, 2023
“It’s setup, setup, surprise. That surprise in a joke is a punch line, and that surprise in a scare is a jump scare or something that unexpectedly catches you off guard.”
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2023
The result is not a jump scare so much as a bunny hop.
From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
