as in appalls
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
the news that we had failed the auto inspection shook us up
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 shakes up
At the head of the family was Keaton as the family matriarch, Sybil Stone, whose breast cancer diagnosis shakes up their reunion.
—
Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 20 Jan. 2026
In the kitchen, her cousin shakes up a few lemon drops as her manager waits for a drink at the granite counter.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2025
The actor previews how the show will honor the death of Krause's Bobby Nash — and how that shakes up things amongst the 118 firefighters.
—Patrick Gomez, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Oct. 2025
This season dropped us in the middle of the action, where a mass shooting shakes up London and intensifies an already heated race to win Mayor.
—Billie Melissa, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Small Business Technology News #3 – AI shakes up the call center industry, but some tasks are still better left to the humans.
—Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
His departure comes as creator Lorne Michaels shakes up the cast ahead of Season 51.
—Peter White, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 20 Jan. 2026
In the kitchen, her cousin shakes up a few lemon drops as her manager waits for a drink at the granite counter.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2025
The actor previews how the show will honor the death of Krause's Bobby Nash — and how that shakes up things amongst the 118 firefighters.
—Patrick Gomez, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Oct. 2025
This season dropped us in the middle of the action, where a mass shooting shakes up London and intensifies an already heated race to win Mayor.
—Billie Melissa, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
Small Business Technology News #3 – AI shakes up the call center industry, but some tasks are still better left to the humans.
—Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
His departure comes as creator Lorne Michaels shakes up the cast ahead of Season 51.
—Peter White, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shakes up
shocks
Verb
-
That moment is similar to one in the show where another closeted hockey star, Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) shocks the world by kissing his secret boyfriend on center ice after winning a championship.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
27 Jan. 2026
-
That can change if a patient has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, which shocks the heart back to beating normally.—
Ciara McCarthy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shakes up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shakes%20up. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
