startled
/ˈstɑɹt.l̩d/adjective, verb
startled is spelled S-T-A-R-T-L-E-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, startled means “Surprised and slightly frightened” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in startled?
| Letters | 8: S-T-A-R-T-L-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is startled?
Startled appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce startled?
- US /ˈstɑɹt.l̩d/
- UK /ˈstɑːt.l̩d/
Startled has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-startled.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of startled
- more startled comparative
- most startled superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does startled mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Surprised and slightly frightened.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of startle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Startled in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense surprised and slightly frightened:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | effarouché, surpris |
| German | erschrocken |
| Spanish | sorprendido, sobresaltado, sobrecogido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.