jolting 1 of 2

adjective

as in startling
causing a strong emotional reaction because of unexpectedness the jolting news about our friend's premature death

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

jolting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of jolt
1
as in shaking
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements the roller coaster car jerked and jolted as it coursed along the old wooden tracks

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in yanking
to move or cause to move with a sharp quick motion she jolted the door open with her elbow

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in appalling
to cause an unpleasant surprise for the sneak terrorist attack jolted the country out of its indolence and indifference

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of jolting
Verb
The choreography is sudden, but not jolting and never gratuitous. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2026 The royal, who was seen repeatedly blinking before jolting awake, was attending the annual ANZAC Day service at London's Westminster Abbey, which is held to commemorate Commonwealth soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada who served and died in wars and peacekeeping operations. — Jennifer Hassan, USA Today, 19 June 2026 On social media, residents across the area described the earthquake jolting their homes and rattling windows and doors. — William B. Davis, New York Times, 4 June 2026 And while cinematically the evidence may not yet be persuasive, with a young generation listening to its own instincts and economically jolting a sclerotic system, the parallel feels bang-on. — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 31 May 2026 Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several related products, jolting the world economy. — Mariam Fam, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2026 Its closure has caused a spike in the price of oil, gas, and several downstream products, jolting the world economy. — Samy Magdy, Fortune, 24 May 2026 Prices have spiked for oil, gas and several downstream products, jolting the world economy. — ABC News, 24 May 2026 Chloe Claudel, picking up on that thread, directs the play in a cleverly glitchy mode, giving you normality with sudden, jolting gestures that move it into territory that’s unsettling, hilarious, or oddly serene. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 13 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jolting
  1. startling
  2. shaking
  3. yanking
  4. appalling
  5. surprising
  6. shuddering
  7. jerking
  8. shocking
Adjective
  • Residents of a Newark, New Jersey, apartment complex got a startling wakeup call Sunday morning when police in tactical gear, responding to reports of multiple people shot, stormed their building.
    — Andrew Ramos, CBS News, 10 Aug. 2026
  • In New York and elsewhere, socialists have also performed well, startling establishment figures who favor more traditional positions on capitalist economic policies, among other issues.
    — Emily Hallas, The Washington Examiner, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of startling
Verb
  • His hands were not shaking, and the cup was returned to his father un-rinsed and brimming with water.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
  • That dynamic is shaking the electric power industry to its core.
    — Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of shaking
Verb
  • The episode feinted toward genuine rapprochement before yanking the rug out, leaving the Gang pelted with an industrial-grade indoor blizzard and then happily chucking rocks at passing trains, as was Mac and Charlie’s childhood tradition.
    — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 July 2026
  • The tentacular Scylla is seen briefly but makes an impact, yanking sailors off Odysseus’s ship in a series of loud jump scares.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 July 2026
Definition of yanking
Verb
  • The young Forster recoiled from the school’s culture of authoritarianism and militaristic chauvinism, which may have found expression in the students’ often appalling attitudes toward their own mothers.
    — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
  • Of all the recent poster boys for appalling misbehavior by the State Police, Michael Proctor would of course rank number one.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026
Definition of appalling
Adjective
  • Of course, 2025 didn’t have the all-encompassing men’s World Cup getting in the way, so a dip shouldn’t be surprising.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Aug. 2026
  • It was not expected to field a presidential candidate and its distancing from the younger Bolsonaro has been surprising.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of surprising
Verb
  • These seemingly innocuous incidents attain new significance as they’re revisited alongside a slow crescendo that suddenly turns to shuddering piano chords on the track’s bridge.
    — Nick Ayres DeMasi, Pitchfork, 1 July 2026
  • Choose Baits with Vibration Lipless crankbaits earn their keep each spring, as their shuddering motion creates the bait-mimicking tremors to which bass respond.
    — David A. Brown, Outdoor Life, 1 July 2026
Definition of shuddering
Verb
  • Stuttering lines, on the left, jerking up and down, denote the rattle of guns; on the right, the lines are all but flat, as silence descends.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Logan Howlett, got a tear-jerking send-off in James Mangold’s Logan.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 27 July 2026
Definition of jerking
Verb
  • In February, Trump appointee Vinay Prasad—a Kennedy ally—refused to even review the vaccine, despite objections from FDA staff and career officials, shocking Moderna and the larger biomedical community.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The rollout comes on the heels of shocking AI safety failures that rattled the nascent industry.
    — Sam McNeil, Fortune, 31 July 2026
Definition of shocking

Browse Nearby Words

jolted
jolting
jolts
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Cite this Entry

“Jolting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jolting. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of jolting for Spanish Speakers

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