sobresaltar
Spanish, verb/sobɾesalˈtaɾ/
sobresaltar is spelled S-O-B-R-E-S-A-L-T-A-R (11 letters) and appears about once in every 35 million words in written Spanish, the 210,939th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Sobresaltar is a Spanish verb meaning “to spook, flinch, startle, shock” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Saltar, venir y acometer de repente”.
What does sobresaltar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to spook, flinch, startle, shock
- 2
to jump
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Saltar, venir y acometer de repente. 2. Asustar, acongojar, alterar a uno repentinamente.
verb: 1. Venirse una cosa a los ojos. Se dice especialmente de las pinturas cuando las figuras parece que salen del lienzo.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of sobresaltar
- sobresalto first-person present singular
- sobresalté first-person preterite singular
- sobresaltado participle past
- sobresaltando gerund
- sobresaltada feminine participle past
- sobresaltados masculine participle past
- sobresaltadas feminine participle past
- sobresaltas indicative informal present
- sobresaltás indicative informal present
- sobresalta indicative present singular
- sobresaltamos first-person indicative plural
- sobresaltáis indicative plural present
- sobresaltan indicative plural present
- sobresaltaba first-person imperfect indicative
- sobresaltabas imperfect indicative second-person
- sobresaltábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- sobresaltabais imperfect indicative plural
- sobresaltaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce sobresaltar?
- /sobɾesalˈtaɾ/
- [so.β̞ɾe.sal̪ˈt̪aɾ]
- [soβ̞ɾesal̪ˈt̪aɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to sobresaltar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is sobresaltar in Spanish?
sobresaltar appears about once in every 35 million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).