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

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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

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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
In addition, a few post-IPO financial moves further spooked investors. — Peter Cohan, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 This is rugged and expensive work, with strong and skittish horses that can be spooked by a butterfly. — Steve Searles, Mercury News, 8 July 2026 Investors remain cautious and easily spooked by any signs that the euphoria carrying AI stocks could be slowing. — Katherine Doyle, NBC news, 7 July 2026 Pets are more likely to go missing during the holiday after being spooked by fireworks, said Humane Society spokesperson Nina Thompson, adding that the best way to prevent that is to keep them indoors during the main firework celebration. — Madeleine Kashkooli, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2026 Brokers say that while some buyers were initially spooked by the tax, the flood of liquidity from recent initial public offerings and soaring wealth from asset prices has outweighed their fears. — Robert Frank, CNBC, 3 July 2026 Any browns feeding there are less likely to have been spooked by the commotion. — Tom Opre, Outdoor Life, 2 July 2026 However, Anthropic’s Mythos release spooked Trump into requesting voluntary safety testing of frontier models in May. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 1 July 2026 In the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil, Postecoglou’s Australia spooked a talented Chile in one match, and took the lead against the Netherlands in another. — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 1 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
  • The bear, seemingly frightened, quickly turns away from the boy and continues running, sliding under a boat parked in the driveway.
    — Mason Leib, ABC News, 7 July 2026
  • In May, a frightened horse rammed into another carriage, causing the vehicle to flip over, injuring the driver.
    — ANDREA SACHS THE WASHINGTON POST, Arkansas Online, 28 June 2026
Definition of frightened
Verb
  • Running into the real Santosh again amid that backdrop, Juyal asked him if the danger scared him.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 8 July 2026
  • Jefferies names it as a top pick, and the margin dip that scared investors is a temporary cost of its Armis acquisition that management expects to reverse in 2027.
    — Todd Gordon, CNBC, 8 July 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • On the 14th floor, three of them broke into Ojeda’s apartment, handcuffed him in front of his terrified wife and son, and dragged him out, according to court documents and security video.
    — Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 10 July 2026
  • Outrage continues to grow after a drone was reported stalking a terrified wild mustang on North Carolina’s northern Outer Banks.
    — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 2 July 2026
Definition of terrified
Verb
  • Pochettino’s sources of American sports culture inspiration There were some aspects of American culture, and specifically American sports culture, that clearly startled Pochettino.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Today Twain would be startled by the passivity of a once-mighty Congress that has all but crumbled in the face of pressure from the White House.
    — Ron Chernow, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026
Definition of startled
Adjective
  • If your bathroom has a basic flush mount, don’t be afraid to replace it with something more eye-catching, like a sputnik chandelier or a lantern pendant.
    — Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 8 July 2026
  • People shouldn’t be afraid, Hammerschlag says, because human-shark encounters are extremely rare—you’re statistically more likely to be killed by lightning.
    — Sam Nichols, Scientific American, 8 July 2026
Definition of afraid
Adjective
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of horrified
Adjective
  • But city officials don’t seem alarmed, saying that the project’s size was bound to change, and that the project is still aligned with the city code.
    — Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 9 July 2026
  • His long white oval scleras and perfect-circle black pupils, sometimes open and sometimes closed, are always inexplicably expressive—managing to seem happy, sad, scared, sleepy, shifty, angry, eager, alarmed, mischievous, or murderous.
    — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 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
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Cite this Entry

“Spooked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spooked. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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