alarmed

adjective

ə-ˈlärmd 

1

: feeling a sense of danger : urgently worried, concerned, or frightened

I was alarmed to see how sick she looked.

And what followed was not a miracle but a … model of how tough government, cooperative businessmen and a very alarmed public can make a dirty world clean again.

—William Oscar Johnson

2

: equipped with an alarm

an alarmed door

Most exits were locked and alarmed, and employees had to show ID badges when they entered lab buildings.

—Jennifer Nagorka

Synonyms

• frightened
• afraid
• terrified
• scared
• horrified
• shocked
• worried

Examples of alarmed in a Sentence

the Mohawks were the trapper's friends, so he was not the least bit alarmed at the sight of the band of Mohawk hunters

Recent Examples on the Web

Parents will be especially alarmed and this will place terrible burdens on pediatricians who will need to assuage their worries in order to provide important protections against serious and sometimes fatal diseases. —Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025

That move alarmed Israeli officials who question the motives of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander. —Gram Slattery, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025

If that surprises you, don’t feel alarmed. —Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

Immigration attorneys are alarmed at USCIS giving itself these new authorities under the DHS rule. —Stuart Anderson, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of alarm entry 2

First Known Use

1702, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for alarmed

• armed
• charmed
• farmed
• harmed
• disarmed
• unarmed
• unharmed