How to Use startle in a Sentence

startle

1 of 2 verb

• I'm sorry that I startled you.
• The country wouldn’t startle you awake in the middle of the night.
  — Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2022
• One twin calls the other and is startled by the sound of her own voice.
  — Jean Garnett, The New Yorker, 10 July 2023
• No one was threatened, but the size of the bear did startle residents in the area of The Club at the Strand.
  — Todd Kelly, USA TODAY, 20 June 2022
• Every time a car races out of the fog, the birds startle and scatter.
  — Paul Yoon, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2021
• The knock at the door startled Jenn Carson and her mother, Lynne.
  — Christine Pelisek, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2023
• Rockefeller and Clark had known about some of this, but the scope startled them.
  — WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
• DePaul, which finished 11th in the 11-team Big East, came out of nowhere to startle No.
  — Dom Amore, courant.com, 12 Mar. 2021
• Here, Edith no longer worried that the pop of gunshots would startle her awake.
  — Freep.com, 18 Apr. 2021
• Sisley isn’t a flashy painter — his work doesn’t grab or startle.
  — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 26 Feb. 2022
• Right then and there, Amanda walked through the door, startling the two women.
  — Alexis Jones, Peoplemag, 17 Apr. 2023
• Again, no need to prove anything, or startle the crows on the wire outside my house.
  — Josh Max, Forbes, 16 June 2022
• An object tumbling from the sky had struck Otero’s Naples, Fla., house with a bang that startled his son.
  — Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
• The video footage showed vendors and shoppers alike startled by the crash landing over their heads.
  — Caitlin McFall, Fox News, 29 June 2023
• The book was published in 2003, and the response from readers startled Peters.
  — Neil Genzlinger, BostonGlobe.com, 29 Mar. 2023
• The fight startled many in the area, and a protest participant with a megaphone called for police to break it up.
  — Madison Dibble, Washington Examiner, 14 May 2020
• Blunt knocks on the window as Gosling startles, his under-eyes looking a bit wet.
  — Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
• Some some take hikes in the woods dressed in their colonial clothes as well as masks—which can startle other hikers.
  — Cameron McWhirter, WSJ, 1 Apr. 2021
• As a friendly reminder: no bright colors, so as not to startle the birds.
  — Jason Siegel, The New Yorker, 23 July 2022
• Streamers attached to branches will flap in the wind and startle animals that like to spend time in trees.
  — Dallas News, 31 Jan. 2022
• Victor is startled by this, maybe even a bit impressed, but not enough to assuage his anger.
  — Erik Kain, Forbes, 7 May 2023
• The first shot seemed to startle the former leader and, a few seconds later, a second shot was fired and Abe collapsed to the ground.
  — Daisuke Wakabayashi, BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2022
• The defense attorneys knew that the name of their surprise witness would startle the court.
  — Carrie Hagen, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Nov. 2020
• In the Netherlands, the intimate gaze of the Girl with the Pearl Earring can once again startle and entice visitors.
  — Raf Casert and Peter Dejong, USA TODAY, 2 June 2020
• Every spring morning here, Camelback Ranch is startled with screams that seem to come from nowhere.
  — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024
• The fireflies bobble and dip, drunk in the expanse of the backyard, sometimes appearing close enough to startle me.
  — Karen Brown, The Atlantic, 31 Aug. 2021
• Our findings will startle the rule writers at the CFPB.
  — Thomas Miller Jr. and Todd Zywicki, WSJ, 2 Jan. 2022
• But don’t bolt or scream, as these actions can startle or agitate a bear.
  — Laken Brooks, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2021
• Her newborn daughter, Odessa, heard the noise too and startled, as was expected.
  — Edward Chen, STAT, 5 Apr. 2023
• In some parts of the New York City area, startled residents spilled out from tenements and row houses onto the sidewalks in front of their buildings in the minutes after the shaking stopped.
  — Ray Sanchez, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024

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startle

2 of 2 noun

• Oh, there are some startles and blood-curdling screams, but that’s mostly from the guests.
  — Angela Hill, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2019
• Many of their primitive reflexes, such as sucking and the startle reflex, will remain at this age.
  — New York Times, 18 Apr. 2020
• Who hasn't giggled, eliciting that startle in someone else?
  — Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland.com, 28 Oct. 2017
• And by reducing wild startles, swaddling reduces night wakings.
  — Anya Leon, PEOPLE.com, 27 Feb. 2018
• The initial visual startle of her work quickly becomes subcutaneous in feeling: the realm of fantasy and superstition.
  — Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2020
• By the early '90s, psychiatrists treating urban residents were diagnosing sleep disorders, extreme startle responses, flashbacks, lost hope for the future, homelessness, alcoholism, suicide and even biochemical changes in the brain.
  — John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 May 2018
• Oh, there are some startles and blood-curdling screams, but that’s mostly from the guests.
  — Angela Hill, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2019
• Many of their primitive reflexes, such as sucking and the startle reflex, will remain at this age.
  — New York Times, 18 Apr. 2020
• Who hasn't giggled, eliciting that startle in someone else?
  — Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland.com, 28 Oct. 2017
• And by reducing wild startles, swaddling reduces night wakings.
  — Anya Leon, PEOPLE.com, 27 Feb. 2018
• The initial visual startle of her work quickly becomes subcutaneous in feeling: the realm of fantasy and superstition.
  — Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2020
• By the early '90s, psychiatrists treating urban residents were diagnosing sleep disorders, extreme startle responses, flashbacks, lost hope for the future, homelessness, alcoholism, suicide and even biochemical changes in the brain.
  — John Schmid, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 May 2018

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024