Word.ws English Dictionary

startled

UK/ˈstɑːt.l̩d//ˈstɑɹt.l̩d/

startled adjective: surprised and slightly frightened. Also the simple past and past participle of startle.

startled: surprised and slightly frightened
Image: Watchduck You can name the author as "T. Piesk", "Tilman, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

startled (comparative more startled, superlative most startled)

  1. Surprised and slightly frightened.
    • The burnt and bleeding man staggered to his feet, dazed and unbelieving, and asked the startled townspeople who came running whether his fireman and guard were safe. He was kept away from the smouldering crater where his engine had been, and taken to hospital.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43
    Synonyms:
    spooked

Also used as

startled is also the simple past and past participle of startle.

Synonyms of startled

Forms of startled

comparativemore startled
superlativemost startled

Words formed from startled

Questions about startled

What does startled mean?
Startled means surprised and slightly frightened.
What part of speech is startled?
Startled is an adjective.
How do you pronounce startled?
Startled is pronounced /ˈstɑɹt.l̩d/ (US).

Words near startled in the dictionary

  1. startish
  2. startle
  3. startle reflex
  4. startle reflexes
  5. startle up
  6. startled
  7. startledly
  8. startlement
  9. startlements
  10. startler
  11. startlers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: startled (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-startled.ogg.

Cite this entry: “startled.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/startled. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.