shocked

adjective

ˈshäkt 

1

a

: affected by shock : stricken with sudden mental or emotional disturbance

"Oh, no!" Mrs. Quimby was shocked. "How much is that going to cost?"

—Beverly Cleary

… I am so shocked to see him that I do not know what to do.

—Jane Austen

b

: showing or expressing shock

Her voice faltered as she saw the shocked amazement on her father's face.

—Mary Norton

In place of a roar at the end of the year's most anticipated race, there was only a shocked silence.

—Tim Layden

2

of a mineral : having a crystal structure that has been deformed by exposure to sudden extremely high pressure (as from a meteorite impact or a nuclear blast)

Grains of shocked quartz have long been used as criteria for impact (extraterrestrial objects or nuclear bombs) …

—Stephen Jay Gould

Synonyms of shocked

• stunned
• amazed
• surprised
• astonished
• horrified
• appalled

Examples of shocked in a Sentence

the escaping bridegroom bid farewell to the shocked wedding guests as he ran out the door

we were shocked at the appalling conditions in the prison

the hikers were so shocked at the sight of a bear that they didn't dare move

Recent Examples on the Web

Each meteoroid collides with Earth's upper atmosphere at 41 miles (66 km) per second, creating an incandescent trail of shocked, ionized air. —Joe Rao, Space.com, 4 May 2026

But Australia's small Jewish population was particularly shocked because its members had not registered such a volume of serious threats before, witnesses said Monday. —ABC News, 4 May 2026

But Australia’s small Jewish population was particularly shocked because its members had not registered such a volume of serious threats before, witnesses said Monday. —Charlotte Graham-McLay, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026

The pair shared a sweet slideshow on Instagram in December 2023 that showed Wilson getting down on one knee in front of a Christmas tree to ask a shocked van der Pol to marry him. —Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1675, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing shocked

• shell-shocked
• shocked and dismayed

Rhymes for shocked

• concoct
• deadlocked
• landlocked
• padlocked
• unblocked
• unlocked
• balked
• blocked
• chalked
• clocked
• cocked
• docked