startlement

as in astonishment
the state of being strongly impressed by something unexpected or unusual the look of startlement in her eyes when she found herself at the wedding seated next to her ex-boyfriend

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for startlement
Noun
  • Its laughs are more often born out of astonishment than intentional comic craft.
    — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Or someone sees the light on in Rita’s room and their eyes meet for a second, from a distance, observing one another with astonishment.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • To the continued amazement of advantage players, casino operatives can argue with apparent conviction that card counting— essentially mental arithmetic—is a form of fraud.
    — Kit Chellel, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
  • No harsh chemicals for her, much to the amazement and envy of her Ghanaian classmates.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • In the 1994 midterms, when Bill Clinton’s presidency was bludgeoned half to death by the Newt Gingrich revolution, The New Yorker’s Michael Kelly described the punch-drunk shock inside the White House.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Europe, a net energy importer, is vulnerable to external energy shocks and has seen prices rise steadily since the start of the Iran war.
    — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Although the Cabinet members’ wins add to a growing GOP tradition in Florida — a Democrat hasn’t won statewide in the Sunshine State since 2018 — Democrats on Tuesday won surprise victories in congress and the state legislature.
    — Liv Caputo, Miami Herald, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Neither side has budged following Tusk’s surprise raid on the Constitutional Tribunal, through which his government ushered out the court’s president and vice president before installing ideologically sympathetic replacements.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026
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“Startlement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/startlement. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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