Meaning & use
visibly shocked
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Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
so surprised and upset by something that other people can clearly see it in your face or behavior.
Grammar: Used after linking verbs such as be, look, seem, or appear; not before a noun.
Patterns
- be visibly shocked
- look visibly shocked
- visibly shocked by something
- visibly shocked at something
She was visibly shocked when she heard the news about the accident.
The audience looked visibly shocked during the final scene of the play.
He seemed visibly shocked by the size of the bill.
Common combinations
- visibly shocked by
- The whole team was visibly shocked by the sudden announcement.
- visibly shocked at
- She was visibly shocked at how much the price had gone up.
- look visibly shocked
- He tried to stay calm, but he looked visibly shocked.
- visibly shocked expression
- There was a visibly shocked expression on her face.
Synonyms and how they differ
- visibly shaken
- This suggests shock plus emotional trembling or upset, often after a bad event.
- visibly stunned
- This focuses on being unable to react because of surprise, rather than on upset feelings.
- visibly astonished
- This is stronger and more formal, often used for amazing or impressive things, not necessarily bad news.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: visibly shocked or visibly surprising?
visibly shocked vs visibly surprising
Do not confuse 'shocked' (the person feels surprise) with 'surprising' (the thing causes surprise). A person is shocked; a piece of news is surprising.
Practice
After the announcement, the employees were ______ shocked and did not know what to say.
Choose one answer.
'Visibly' is the adverb that describes how the shock could be seen, and it fits before the adjective 'shocked'. 'Visible' is an adjective and cannot modify another adjective; 'visibility' and 'vision' are nouns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “visibly shocked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.