1
: an abrupt, sharp, jerky blow or movement
awoke with a jolt
2
a(1)
: a sudden feeling of shock, surprise, or disappointment
the news gave them a jolt
(2)
: an event or development causing such a feeling
the defeat was quite a jolt
b
: a serious setback or reverse
a severe financial jolt
3
: a small but potent or bracing portion of something
a jolt of horseradish
jolted; jolting; jolts
1
a
: to disturb the composure of : shock
crudely jolted out of that mood—
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolfan announcement that jolted the community
b
: to interfere with roughly, abruptly, and disconcertingly
determination to pursue his own course was jolted badly—F. L. Paxson
F. L. Paxson2
: to cause to move with a sudden jerky motion
passengers being jolted along a bumpy road
3
: to give a knock or blow to
specifically
: to jar with a quick or hard blow
: to move with a sudden jerky motion
jolter
noun
Synonyms
Examples of jolt in a Sentence
Noun
I sprang out of bed with a jolt.
The car stopped with a jolt.
I got quite a jolt when I heard the door slam.
The defeat was quite a jolt to the team.
The stock market suffered a major jolt yesterday.
She needed a jolt of caffeine to start her day.
The unexpected praise he received gave him a jolt of confidence.
Verb
The explosion jolted the ship.
He was jolted forward when the bus stopped suddenly.
The loud bang jolted me awake.
The attack jolted the country into action.
She jolted the medical world with her announcement.
Recent Examples on the WebAbbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Apr. 2024
Seeking a fresh start A $10 million grant awarded last fall by the U.S. Department of Agriculture could give a jolt of adrenaline to the county’s planting programs.
—Alyssa Johnson, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024
Pask suggests that a voluminous trouser is the quickest and easiest way to inject a contemporary jolt into your formal dressing—somewhat ironically, since the silhouette is anything but new.
—Max Berlinger, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2024
The result of all this is that even Taiwan’s tallest skyscrapers can withstand regular seismic jolts.
—Siyi Zhao Lam Yik Fei, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Some believe reopening the door to a massive neighbor market is just the economic jolt Pakistan needs.
—Hasan Ali, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
New York City felt a jolt Friday morning, after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake with its center in New Jersey rocked Wall Street and other parts of the city.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
But then, even in a fault-riddled place with long and hard experience with earthquakes, the jolt of aftershock after aftershock was startling, continuing every few minutes throughout the day.
—John Yoon, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The jolt will prevent San Diego’s daytime high from rising above 58 on Friday.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2024
Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2024
When Patriots closes in on the three principal characters, whose distance from each other on the stage mirrors the increasing chasm between them, the results are jolting and, ironically, topical.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Justin Byrnes flicked on the emergency lights of his 2016 Ford Explorer and jolted the steel vessel forward.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
But many are still entering the game, searching for something to jolt them out of their current financial straits.
—Chloe Berger, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024
That’s the kind of movie Civil War is: one that invents a nightmare-on-earth scenario and takes great pains to portray it as realistically as possible, with the aim of jolting us to attention.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Government agencies were searching for potential structural damage up and down the East Coast after the first quake, which briefly disrupted air-traffic control, slowed train service and jolted millions of Americans out of their daily routines.
—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
As our world’s ground to a halt, the masses were jolted into a disorienting reality, giving many a rare opportunity to engage with our thoughts and feel our feelings in ways the chaotic rhythm of our pre-pandemic lives seldom allowed.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 4 Apr. 2024
The crisp transitions and jolting vocal layering are some of her best.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024
Noun
When Orphan Black co-creator John Fawcett read Kat and Niko Troubetzkoy’s new The CW show Sight Unseen, his response gave the half-sisters, who were producers on his own Peabody-winning BBC America series, a jolt of confidence.
—Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Apr. 2024
Seeking a fresh start A $10 million grant awarded last fall by the U.S. Department of Agriculture could give a jolt of adrenaline to the county’s planting programs.
—Alyssa Johnson, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024
Pask suggests that a voluminous trouser is the quickest and easiest way to inject a contemporary jolt into your formal dressing—somewhat ironically, since the silhouette is anything but new.
—Max Berlinger, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2024
The result of all this is that even Taiwan’s tallest skyscrapers can withstand regular seismic jolts.
—Siyi Zhao Lam Yik Fei, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Some believe reopening the door to a massive neighbor market is just the economic jolt Pakistan needs.
—Hasan Ali, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2024
New York City felt a jolt Friday morning, after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake with its center in New Jersey rocked Wall Street and other parts of the city.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024
But then, even in a fault-riddled place with long and hard experience with earthquakes, the jolt of aftershock after aftershock was startling, continuing every few minutes throughout the day.
—John Yoon, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
The jolt will prevent San Diego’s daytime high from rising above 58 on Friday.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
Odunze is a game-breaker to help jolt to life a flat-lining offense.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2024
When Patriots closes in on the three principal characters, whose distance from each other on the stage mirrors the increasing chasm between them, the results are jolting and, ironically, topical.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Justin Byrnes flicked on the emergency lights of his 2016 Ford Explorer and jolted the steel vessel forward.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
But many are still entering the game, searching for something to jolt them out of their current financial straits.
—Chloe Berger, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024
That’s the kind of movie Civil War is: one that invents a nightmare-on-earth scenario and takes great pains to portray it as realistically as possible, with the aim of jolting us to attention.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Government agencies were searching for potential structural damage up and down the East Coast after the first quake, which briefly disrupted air-traffic control, slowed train service and jolted millions of Americans out of their daily routines.
—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
As our world’s ground to a halt, the masses were jolted into a disorienting reality, giving many a rare opportunity to engage with our thoughts and feel our feelings in ways the chaotic rhythm of our pre-pandemic lives seldom allowed.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 4 Apr. 2024
The crisp transitions and jolting vocal layering are some of her best.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jolt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near jolt
Cite this Entry
“Jolt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jolt. Accessed 1 May. 2024.
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