SHAKEN Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

shaken

verb

past participle of shake

as in shuddered

to make a series of small irregular or violent movements the bus rattled and shook as it barreled down a rutted road

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in escaped

to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery we shook our pursuers by cutting through the abandoned lot

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 shaken The collisions have shaken confidence in the Spanish rail network long hailed for its speed and safety. — ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026 The collisions have shaken confidence in the Spanish rail network that has long been hailed for its speed and safety. — Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026 The shooting, which happened near the University of Delaware's campus, has since left many students shaken. — CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026 Bake pie until edges of filling are set and slightly puffed but center still wobbles a little when gently shaken, 40–50 minutes (filling will continue to set after baking). — Shilpa Uskokovic, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Nov. 2026 The boy on the back of the truck knew him, had shaken his hand, had been welcomed onto the firebase before, and had stood, on many mornings, among the same soldiers surrounding Andrew. — Ron Farina, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2026 By early November, the hotel’s watering hole, Coral Bar, sidling steps from the pool and right along Palafox Street, will be open most nights for handcrafted cocktails shaken at the long Alabama marble bar. — Terry Ward, Travel + Leisure, 31 Oct. 2026 If there is a starquake, a sudden shift in the neutron star crust, the magnetic field gets shaken violently. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026 The twins’ mother, Roberts, said the tragedy has forever shaken her trust in humanity. — David K. Li, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shaken

Verb

Curhan on Tuesday was asked about his favorite block from that day — that 19-16 win over the Packers that is setting up to feel eerily similar to the one on Thursday night — and shuddered a smile.

— Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 27 Oct. 2026
Conservatives shuddered to think how close the country had come to permanent entangling alliances.

— Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of shuddered

Verb

Three women inmates escaped a transport van in the midst of the fire chaos, and Mickey needed her troops to find the missing convicts instead of helping with the fire.

— Megan Vick, Variety, 7 Nov. 2026
Stayner first became notable as the older brother of Steven Stayner, who escaped a 1972 kidnapping in 1980.

— Leigh Egan, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of escaped

Verb

During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Somewhere nearby, in a dark office, an eavesdropping oreja has just jerked to attention on his hard little chair.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of jerked

Verb

John, whose descendants remember him as savvy and tenacious, evaded the racist federal ban on Chinese immigrants by assuming a new identity.

— Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 29 Oct. 2026
On his lone touchdown pass, Mayfield escaped Carolina pressure, evaded to the right, and threw it on the run, off his back foot, all while leaning back.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of evaded

Verb

At Hill Street bar, close to the downtown criminal courthouse where McKinney has built his career, supporters swayed to smooth jazz and Top 40 radio hits, nursing cocktails and betraying no reaction to the dismal early returns.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026
In his campaign, Piper highlighted affordability and the need for county government to be less swayed by the political donations incumbents receive from the lobbyists, vendors and developers that populate Miami-Dade’s donor circuit.

— Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of swayed

Verb

In fact, Nelson deliberately avoided casting into the area where Robertson had been catching his fish, despite the enormous money at stake.

— Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026
Boise State football avoided a near-catastrophic home defeat to Texas State last night, eking out a 46-45 win despite the visiting Bobcats embarking on a 36-0 second-half run.

— Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 1 Nov. 2026