startle

[ stahr-tl ]
See synonyms for startle on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),star·tled, star·tling.
  1. to disturb or agitate suddenly as by surprise or alarm.

  2. to cause to start involuntarily, by or as by a sudden shock.

verb (used without object),star·tled, star·tling.
  1. to start involuntarily, as from a shock of surprise or alarm.

noun
  1. a sudden shock of surprise, alarm, or the like.

  2. something that startles.

Origin of startle

1
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”

synonym study For startle

1. See shock1.

Other words for startle

Other words from startle

  • star·tle·ment, noun
  • star·tler, noun
  • out·star·tle, verb (used with object), out·star·tled, out·star·tling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use startle in a sentence

  • He seemed keen and sanguine when we met and made no reference to this letter: so it comes in now as rather a startler.

  • He fired his "Artistic Joke" off, the shot went home, and the effect was a startler for many people and in many places.

  • And suppose it goes off while you are lighting it, and gives you a startler, and sends us all to the bottom, how then?

    Rob Harlow's Adventures | George Manville Fenn
  • Of course, I only meant, in my annoyance at his dozing off at such a time, to give him a startler.

    Stan Lynn | George Manville Fenn
  • He felt certain that the Major was going to give him a startler, more dreadful perhaps than those he had had with his lordship.

    Ask Momma | R. S. Surtees

British Dictionary definitions for startle

startle

/ (ˈstɑːtəl) /


verb
  1. to be or cause to be surprised or frightened, esp so as to start involuntarily

Origin of startle

1
Old English steartlian to stumble; related to Middle High German starzen to strut, Norwegian sterta to strain oneself

Derived forms of startle

  • startler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012