triggered

adjective

trig·​gered ˈtri-gər 

1

a

: released, initiated, or set off by a trigger

a triggered alert

A triggered fire alarm around 5 a.m. Sunday led Denver firefighters and Colorado troopers to the Capitol where they discovered at least three bronze busts of former lawmakers had been vandalized.

—Rob Low

b

: equipped with a trigger

a triggered mechanism

2

a

: occurring in response to a stimulus typically perceived as negative or harmful

Triggered reactions can be intense and unpleasant, and may even overtake our consciousness, as with a flashback experienced by a war veteran.

—Kate Manne

As the body moves quickly, the heart rate and breath speed up, which also occurs during a triggered "fight or flight" reaction.

—Lindsey Pearson

b

: caused to feel an intense and usually negative emotional reaction : affected by an emotional trigger

Triggered people often feel guilt or anger at themselves afterwards, so don't contribute to that cycle of thought.

—JR Thorpe

Examples of triggered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Live monitoring agents can only pull up video during an active triggered alarm, after a customer has explicitly opted into the service. — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2026

The area is hazardous with lots of terrain that could be considered risky for a triggered or natural avalanche, said Mark Gunlogson, owner of Mountain Madness, a mountaineering company based in Seattle. — Paige Cornwell, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1806, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Rhymes for triggered

• niggard
• sigurd