Words similar to startled

Example sentences for: startled

How can you use “startled” in a sentence? Here are some example sentences to help you improve your vocabulary:

It was only a decade ago that Stephen McCauley published his first novel, The Object of My Affection , and startled his readers by having his gay protagonist, George, move in with a flaky Brooklyn social worker, Nina, and agree to be a father to her unborn child.
I remember being startled when a college professor visiting our town told me after an hour's conversation, mainly on the street, that I was college material and would do rather well there--something that guidance counselors and teachers at my high school had never said, despite my appetite for Shakespeare.
The phone startled me.
This week a reader wrote, noting that out of a dozen plays he had seen which are currently running in London, he had been startled by language that he rated “obscene” in no fewer than ten.
Perhaps we will one day be startled again by Godfrey Daniel!