as in frightened
filled with fear or dread
Ichabod Crane was so spooked that he left Sleepy Hollow for good
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in scared
to strike with fear
the sudden noise spooked her out of her skin
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Recent Examples of spooked
Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 10 Apr. 2026
Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 24 May 2026
Trump has taken a hands-off approach to regulating AI since retaking office, but members of his administration got spooked and began recommending safety testing after Anthropic flagged cybersecurity risks with its latest model, Mythos.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026
Winifried — whose preferred diminutive, also the name of the demon inside her, is Fred, not Winnie — isn’t the one being spooked here.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Impulsively adopting Yuri as a puppy, however, awakens some level of maternal instinct in her; the two are devoted, until Yuri runs away one New Year’s Eve, seemingly spooked by fireworks.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 May 2026
The trigger was Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus in 2025—a deal that reportedly spooked Beijing into tightening control over companies deemed strategically important.
—Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 19 May 2026
The bond market spooked investors in recent days, as the 30-year yield hit its highest level since 2007, and the 10-year yield neared multi-year highs.
—Sean Conlon,lisa Kailai Han,chloe Taylor, CNBC, 19 May 2026
Many Democrats, spooked by the prospect of their party being frozen out in June’s top-two primary, have been clinging to their ballots, intending to vote at the last moment for whichever Democrat appears likeliest to finish first.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2026
The thieves left after being spooked by the sound of a helicopter passing overhead, according to investigators.
—Andy Rose, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
Adjective
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
Still, Sinner’s Wimbledon coup spooked Grand Slam organizers into amending their rulebook.
—Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 24 May 2026
Trump has taken a hands-off approach to regulating AI since retaking office, but members of his administration got spooked and began recommending safety testing after Anthropic flagged cybersecurity risks with its latest model, Mythos.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2026
Winifried — whose preferred diminutive, also the name of the demon inside her, is Fred, not Winnie — isn’t the one being spooked here.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026
Impulsively adopting Yuri as a puppy, however, awakens some level of maternal instinct in her; the two are devoted, until Yuri runs away one New Year’s Eve, seemingly spooked by fireworks.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 May 2026
The trigger was Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus in 2025—a deal that reportedly spooked Beijing into tightening control over companies deemed strategically important.
—Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 19 May 2026
The bond market spooked investors in recent days, as the 30-year yield hit its highest level since 2007, and the 10-year yield neared multi-year highs.
—Sean Conlon,lisa Kailai Han,chloe Taylor, CNBC, 19 May 2026
Many Democrats, spooked by the prospect of their party being frozen out in June’s top-two primary, have been clinging to their ballots, intending to vote at the last moment for whichever Democrat appears likeliest to finish first.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2026
The thieves left after being spooked by the sound of a helicopter passing overhead, according to investigators.
—Andy Rose, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spooked
Adjective
-
The frightened cat curled up along the shoulder of the freeway when it was seen, according to the Michigan Humane.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
27 May 2026
-
The Americans in that Nebraska unit are isolated and frightened.—
Craig Spencer,
STAT,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
But the apparent side effects scared him off.—
T.M. Brown,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
-
That same year, Wait Until Dark scared me to death when bad guys terrorized a blind Audrey Hepburn.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
22 May 2026
Adjective
-
In the mid-2000s, people across America watched a man in a trench coat hand a chat-log transcript to a terrified suspect holding a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade.—
Toni Fitzgerald,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
-
Three men in Hawaii were killed within 48 hours, leaving devastated families in mourning and a terrified community on edge as police hunt for the suspect.—
Amanda Musa,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
The blast in Indonesia's restive eastern Papua region startled locals with a thunderous boom on Sunday afternoon, emitting a ball of flames followed by a thick smoke column, according to footage broadcast on Kompas TV.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
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The scale of what is emerging in China’s northwestern desert has left even seasoned analysts startled.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
Unlike the coolly impassive Pop artists, the Who weren’t afraid to get personal, or to let their art echo the anxious, kinky, maladjusted yammering in their own heads.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Meanwhile, aggressive immigration enforcement has made some people afraid to seek care at all, worsening public health outcomes.—
Daniela Flores,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 June 2026
Adjective
-
As a horrified Sam inadvertently observes, a creature has been sating itself on his buddy’s brain.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
31 May 2026
-
As his tricks progressed, the Young Man felt horrified and confused at the same time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Adjective
-
As part of that crackdown, the FBI in January seized the electronic devices of a Washington Post reporter, a move that alarmed media organizations and advocates of press freedom.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 May 2026
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Maritime users were particularly alarmed because the location data feature could counter GPS spoofing and jamming that have been occurring in waters in the Middle East, allowing boats to safely navigate despite electronic signal interference.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
People are often shocked to hear that Nixon froze the rent as part of his 1971 price controls.—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
2 June 2026
-
Back in north London, there was an initial shocked silence from the 35,000 watching the shootout at the Emirates Stadium, which was immediately followed by applause for their ‘King of Brazil’.—
Art de Roché,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spooked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooked. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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