shook

verb

Definition of shooknext
past tense of shake
1
as in jerked
to make a series of small irregular or violent movements the bus rattled and shook as it barreled down a rutted road

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in avoided
to get or keep away from (as a responsibility) through cleverness or trickery we shook our pursuers by cutting through the abandoned lot

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shook The tech-heavy Nasdaq has fought its way into the green Tuesday, as influential AI stocks like CoreWeave shook off earlier losses. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026 The pope then walked outside greeted and waved at the crowd and shook hands of hospital staff lined up by car to see him off. — ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026 Maybe the shooting shook something loose in her and has amplified her worst tendencies. — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2026 The incident devastated the families of the victims and shook the Iranian diaspora. — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026 During the confrontation, Nichols allegedly picked Perlis up by the neck and shook him, per the complaint. — Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 16 Oct. 2026 Dylan Harper shook off a slow start on his way to a team-high 19 points, one of seven Spurs in double figures. — Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Oct. 2026 The crossing left at least 140 migrants dead and shook the city perched on the Mediterranean coast. — Joseph Wilson, Arkansas Online, 14 Oct. 2026 Both were arrested and were being held in separate prisons in the central city of Isfahan over their participation in the nationwide January protests that shook the Islamic republic. — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shook
  1. jerked
  2. avoided
  3. shuddered
  4. evaded
  5. quivered
  6. escaped
  7. vibrated
Verb
  • During the test, Linton jerked and twitched in what prosecutors described as an attempt to fake a seizure.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Somewhere nearby, in a dark office, an eavesdropping oreja has just jerked to attention on his hard little chair.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of jerked
Verb
  • Our weak college presidents have avoided telling the truth for too long.
    — Bruce Svare, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • That score came after Manning avoided a sack on a fourth down and found Emmett Mosley V for 62 yards to set up the TD pass.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of avoided
Verb
  • Conservatives shuddered to think how close the country had come to permanent entangling alliances.
    — Beverly Gage, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • McDonald’s shares fell nearly 5% Wednesday, their largest percentage drop since April 2025, as investors shuddered at the eye-popping price of improving McDonald’s 46,000 global stores.
    — Dee-Ann Durbin, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of shuddered
Verb
  • Last year, a Houthi missile evaded Israel’s vaunted air defenses and impacted near Ben Gurion airport.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
  • State police said evidence was located at the scene which indicated that a 2022 Triumph Rocket 3 GT, operated by 56-year-old Alexander Rivera of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, was struck by vehicle that allegedly evaded the scene.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of evaded
Verb
  • Every once in a while, when there was a pause, my eyes started to water and my body quivered and shook a little bit.
    — Peter Wilkinson, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Each time, brown leaves that had drifted from distant trees quivered and spun on the surface.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
Definition of quivered
Verb
  • Shawn Curtis and his dog Lux escaped through Curtis' bedroom window when waves overtook his apartment.
    — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 17 Oct. 2026
  • That, to me, is the main reason why machine learning escaped a scientific crisis.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of escaped
Verb
  • The roar of the engines vibrated through the fuselage, rattling bones and teeth, while supply crates shifted and groaned with every lurch.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
  • And the universal consciousness of light that vibrated at my frequency is what saved me.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of vibrated

Browse Nearby Words

shoo-ins
shook
shook a leg
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shook.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shook. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All