alarmed

adjective

ə-ˈlärmd 

1

: feeling a sense of danger : urgently worried, concerned, or frightened

I was alarmed to see how sick she looked.

And what followed was not a miracle but a … model of how tough government, cooperative businessmen and a very alarmed public can make a dirty world clean again.

—William Oscar Johnson

2

: equipped with an alarm

an alarmed door

Most exits were locked and alarmed, and employees had to show ID badges when they entered lab buildings.

—Jennifer Nagorka

Synonyms

• frightened
• afraid
• terrified
• scared
• horrified
• shocked
• worried

Examples of alarmed in a Sentence

the Mohawks were the trapper's friends, so he was not the least bit alarmed at the sight of the band of Mohawk hunters

Recent Examples on the Web

His promotion of conspiracy theories claiming vaccines cause autism, linking antidepressants to school shootings and even suggesting WiFi causes cancer alarmed healthcare professionals and Democratic lawmakers. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025

For Salvadorans and deportees alike, what awaits inside these prisons has alarmed advocates. —Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2025

A number of separate stories have been conflated into a data breach that never was, and users are understandably alarmed. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025

The Sylvias become alarmed when Nibs claims to be pregnant. —Noel Murray, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of alarm entry 2

First Known Use

1702, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for alarmed

• armed
• charmed
• farmed
• harmed
• disarmed
• unarmed
• unharmed