spooked 1 of 2

adjective

as in frightened
filled with fear or dread Ichabod Crane was so spooked that he left Sleepy Hollow for good

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

spooked

2 of 2

verb

past tense of spook
as in scared
to strike with fear the sudden noise spooked her out of her skin

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 spooked
Adjective
Know what would make Whitney less spooked? — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 June 2026 The Grammy Award-winning superstar took to Instagram to share her experience, which left her spooked and unable to sleep. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2026
Verb
On one side were animal rights activists who said carriage horses are overworked, get easily spooked on city streets, live in inadequate stables and are controlled by abusive owners and drivers. — Barry Williams, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026 This after Wall Street closed lower as pressure from the big tech stocks weighed on the broader index, while a spike in oil prices and Treasury yields also spooked investors. — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 24 July 2026 The company on Wednesday reported its 12th straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth, but investors were spooked by a spike in its artificial intelligence capital spending forecast to between $195 billion and $205 billion. — Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026 Meriwether managed to wrangle him back in with a script rewrite, but the question mark remained if he might get spooked again. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 21 July 2026 In towns such as La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, the village just north of Puerto Vallarta that was home to seven of the eight men killed in February, the strikes have spooked fishermen involved in legal activities who now fear being mistakenly targeted. — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026 The dog had been missing since the Fourth of July after getting spooked by the holiday’s sounds. — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 20 July 2026 Cabo Verde spooked Argentina, in one of the tournament’s best games; Paraguay dumped out Germany; Brazil just squeezed past Japan; Belgium rose from the dead against Senegal—two goals down with four minutes to play—to win in extra time. — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 These invectives evidently haven’t spooked Son, who once predicted that AI superintelligence would exist by 2035. — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 16 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spooked
  1. frightened
  2. scared
  3. terrified
  4. startled
  5. afraid
  6. horrified
  7. alarmed
  8. shocked
Adjective
  • Perreault-Magny said frightened and flustered migrants sometimes try to climb into his unmarked patrol pickup, mistaking it for a smuggler coming to collect them.
    — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 29 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, the people standing beside the robot look frightened.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of frightened
Verb
  • But coyotes—anxious, clumsy, and scared to try new things—lagged far behind their mesopredator cousins.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 July 2026
  • Running into the real Santosh again amid that backdrop, Juyal asked him if the danger scared him.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 July 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • As their captors sought cover, the terrified children were ordered to stay and shoot down the jets over the capital, Khartoum.
    — Sam Mednick, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Fuelled by unhinged online hate and anti-Israel extremism, total violent hate crimes skyrocketed by 97% since 2022, forcing terrified Jewish communities around the world into hiding.
    — Staff, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of terrified
Verb
  • Witness Hoon Chan Sim, 53, was sitting on a park lawn with his dog near West Drive when he was startled by the squeal of braking tires, and spun around to see the horrific collision.
    — Lincoln Anderson, New York Daily News, 25 July 2026
  • Wildlife experts say black bears are strong climbers and may scale trees, utility poles or other tall structures when startled by people, traffic or dogs.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of startled
Adjective
  • The kind who drive across town for the right crust and aren't afraid to wait for it.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026
  • Don’t be afraid to volunteer for a responsibility that scares you a little.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026
Definition of afraid
Adjective
  • In one early scene, a horrified Pam stares into her bathroom mirror, covered head to toe in blood.
    — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 13 July 2026
  • The first police officer on the scene quickly ran back to the station for help, while neighbors calmed the horrified Lizzie.
    — Sophia Zhang, Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 June 2026
Definition of horrified
Adjective
  • Toczylowski said termination of a program that serves one of the most vulnerable immigrant populations should be viewed as an attack on children and Americans should be alarmed.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • Multiple layers of protection — starting with four-sided isolation fencing, alarmed doors and windows leading to pool areas, and removing toys after swim time — can help prevent these tragedies.
    — Karen Cohn, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 July 2026
Definition of alarmed
Adjective
  • The first season ended with a big cliffhanger, in which Cooper emerged from a cocoon after a transformation to a shocked reaction though his appearance was not revealed.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 13 July 2026
  • In Atlanta last week, Mohamed Salah and his Egypt team-mates walked out of the stadium in shocked silence.
    — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 12 July 2026
Definition of shocked

Browse Nearby Words

spook
spooked
spooking
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spooked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooked. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on spooked

Nglish: Translation of spooked for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All