Meaning & use
shaken
Last updated
“shaken” is a form of “shake”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Feeling upset, worried, or frightened because of something bad that has happened.
Grammar: Used after linking verbs like be, feel, seem, or look: She felt shaken after the accident.
Patterns
- be shaken by something
- feel shaken
- look shaken
- be badly shaken
She was deeply shaken by the news of the fire.
He looked shaken after the near miss on the highway.
The whole team felt shaken for days after the attack.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past participle of shake; moved quickly up and down or from side to side.
Grammar: Used to form perfect tenses and the passive: The bottle has been shaken well.
Patterns
- have shaken something
- be shaken by something
- be shaken up
The ground had shaken violently during the earthquake.
The juice should be shaken before you pour it.
The tree was shaken by the strong wind.
adjectivenot comparable
Weakened or made less certain; no longer firm or stable.
Grammar: Often used with confidence, faith, or belief: His confidence was shaken.
Patterns
- be shaken
- leave something shaken
- shaken confidence
Investors' confidence was shaken by the sudden fall in prices.
Her belief in the system was shaken by the unfair result.
The scandal left the government badly shaken.
Common combinations
- deeply shaken
- He was deeply shaken by the crash.
- visibly shaken
- She was visibly shaken as she gave her statement.
- shaken up
- The children were pretty shaken up after the storm.
- shaken confidence
- The loss left the players with shaken confidence.
- badly shaken
- The old bridge was badly shaken by the earthquake.
Synonyms and how they differ
- upset
- Upset is a more general feeling of sadness or worry; shaken suggests a sudden, stronger shock.
- rattled
- Rattled is more informal and means confused or nervous for a short time; shaken can last longer.
- traumatized
- Traumatized is much stronger and suggests lasting damage from a terrible event.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: shaken or shook? shaken or shocked?
shaken vs shook
Shook is the simple past tense (He shook my hand); shaken is the past participle used after have or be.
shaken vs shocked
Shocked means very surprised by something unexpected; shaken means emotionally disturbed by something bad.
Practice
After the accident, she was clearly ___ by what she had seen.
Choose one answer.
After the verb was, we need the past participle shaken to form the passive. Shook is the simple past and cannot follow was in this structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shaken”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.