shook up

1 of 2

adjective

variants or less commonly shook-up

ˌshu̇k-ˈəp 

informal

: nervously upset : agitated, shaken

The driver of the southbound car was not injured but "was shook up from the ordeal," the department said.

—Amy B. Wang

shook up

2 of 2

past tense and chiefly dialectal past participle of shake up

Examples of shook up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

That blow came a little less than a year after the New York Times shook up its culture desk and reassigned its classical music critic, Zachary Woolfe, to serve as the obituaries editor. — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

But there was also a brand new twist that shook up the format in a big way. — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2026

Week 2 shook up the College Football Playoff race with Texas’ big win against Ohio State and Oregon’s shocking loss at Oklahoma State. — Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1550, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for shook up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

shook-up

adjective

ˌshu̇k-ˈəp

: nervously upset : agitated