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startle

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To surprise or frighten someone suddenly.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

stahrtuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈstɑɹtəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm

    “She startled when I walked into the room.”

  2. transitive

    To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.

  3. intransitive

    To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.

noun

  1. A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm

Used this way, startle is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.

Heard in a sentence
“She startled when I walked into the room.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Sudden and forceful
Usage feel
Blunt and forceful

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use startle

  • “She startled when I walked into the room.”verb
  • “The loud noise startled him awake.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

startle responsestartle reflexstartle reactionacoustic startlestartle pattern

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • startle reactionnounCompound term

    A complicated involuntary reaction to a sudden unexpected stimulus (especially a loud noise).

  • startle reflexnounCompound term

    A normal reflex of young infants.

  • startle responsenounCompound term

    A complicated involuntary reaction to a sudden unexpected stimulus (especially a loud noise).

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: move or jump suddenly or as if in surprise

start

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.