startle
Americanverb (used with object)
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startles,
present (3rd person singular)
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startled,
past participle, past
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startling
present participle
verb (used without object)
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startles,
present (3rd person singular)
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startled,
past participle, past
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startling
present participle
noun
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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:
Percussion instruments—including a whistle and slap-stick—interrupt and startle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
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
The next thing Ms Lees knew, the kangaroo had launched towards her car, which she had slowed to a crawl so as not to startle the animal, and started to attack it.
From BBC ● May 23, 2025
For these L.A. gigs, she has the Breeders, the great veteran alt-rock band whose 1993 classic “Last Splash” can still startle you with its off-kilter intensity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024
It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
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
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
He startles Queen Ramonda and her daughter Shuri in a rural area of their Black utopia.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
She startles, as if this is a quiet room and I am a sudden noise.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
Most black bear “attacks” are actually defensive actions, and generally take place if an animal is protecting cubs, startled or scared, according to the department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
“The Pineapple” promised to be intense, but even hours before the show had begun, it had me startled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 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 awake and immediately went to my child's room."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The booming sound startled Owen awake and made Momma Bear flinch.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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
It's likely to be the most significant royal book since Prince Harry's startling 2023 memoir, Spare, and Andrew Lownie's 2025 book Entitled, which doomed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's reputation.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
This past week, the German government made an announcement that was both startling and unsurprising.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
We splashed through shallow puddles, startling flies from their perches atop piles of rotten food.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
