as in shocked
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
the news that we had failed the auto inspection shook us up
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in upset
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Recent Examples of shook-up
Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Conflicting messaging and ambiguous guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration shook up the usual launch of annual vaccines.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2025
Orlando shook up its roster in the offseason, including a blockbuster trade for former Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, signing former Phoenix Suns point guard Tyus Jones, drafting guard Jase Richardson and forward Noah Penda, and extending Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner on sizable contracts.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The blockbuster trade that shook up not only the basketball world but the sports world took place seven months ago between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
—Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Conflicting messaging and ambiguous guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration shook up the usual launch of annual vaccines.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 27 Aug. 2025
Orlando shook up its roster in the offseason, including a blockbuster trade for former Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane, signing former Phoenix Suns point guard Tyus Jones, drafting guard Jase Richardson and forward Noah Penda, and extending Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner on sizable contracts.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shook-up
Verb
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The audience was shocked – which is just what Gaga envisioned.—
Kate Hogan,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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Two months ago, Justin Bieber shocked the world with his excellent Swag, his first album in four years.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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There have been some instances, however, when an upset crayfish comes home from a hard day of crayfishing only to have to kick out a frog and cap the burrow.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
3 Sep. 2025
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Meanwhile, for an AI that claims someone is going into something bad, but the AI has computationally misjudged the circumstance, users are bound to howl and get upset with the AI and the AI maker.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Trump’s victories against the bureaucracy have appalled many Democrats, though none have much of a theory on how to put Humpty Dumpty back together.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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Bob the Drag Queen tells EW he was appalled by the way ANTM stars treated Isis King on cycle 11.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Of course, other corporations have been down a similarly troubled road in recent years.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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The filing is known in Italy as a CNC, and offers troubled companies the time and space to restructure, and chart a path forward.—
Luisa Zargani,
Footwear News,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Twenty years ago this month, UCD stunned FBS-level Stanford with a late winning drive on the road in one of the great moments in program history.—
Joe Davidosn,
Sacbee.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Chili’s has stunned the market with same-store sales surging 24% and its parent’s stock climbing 300% over the past three years.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The always watchable Zem (Other People’s Children) is strong as an obsessive intellectual whose theories drive him to push others to the brink, while Valeria Golino (a requisite for any Italian festival film these days) shows up as the aggrieved mother of a victim.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
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But its sympathy for its aggrieved antihero feels very current.—
Katie Rife,
IndieWire,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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As police secured the area with crime scene tape, distraught family members began arriving at the scene late Sunday night, according to police dispatch audio.—
Doc Louallen,
ABC News,
8 Sep. 2025
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The mother thanked officers and ran from the apartment, distraught and inconsolable.—
Kristi Miller,
Twin Cities,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Maurice, who had a troubled childhood marked by illness and emotional neglect, was negative and socially ill at ease.—
Olga Khazan,
The Atlantic,
13 Aug. 2025
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In her mind, the community in her fictional story should be one of privilege, a circumstance in which Ruth, who grew up in a working-class Yiddish family, could initially feel ill at ease.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Los Angeles Times,
25 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shook-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shook-up. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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