as in to shock
to cause an unpleasant surprise for
the news that we had failed the auto inspection shook us up
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Recent Examples of shake up
Seth Yudof, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2025
On March 14, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo will shake up your routines and daily rituals, urging you to address unhealthy habits or imbalances in your day-to-day life.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 3 Mar. 2025
Tamara Keith, NPR, 2 Mar. 2025
On March 14, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo will touch down on your third house of communication, bringing powerful shake-ups to your third house of communication and immediate surroundings.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shake up
Verb
By partnering with cultural institutions, independent curators or even that eccentric music professor who knows the underground scene, platforms could shake up playlists, enhance the listening experience and open new revenue streams by appealing to audiences hungry for variety.
—Seth Yudof, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2025
On March 14, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo will shake up your routines and daily rituals, urging you to address unhealthy habits or imbalances in your day-to-day life.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 3 Mar. 2025
Noun
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images President Trump returns to the House chamber on Tuesday for his first address to a joint session of Congress since retaking the White House, a moment where he is expected to revel in his shake-up of Washington and lay out some plans for the year ahead.
—Tamara Keith, NPR, 2 Mar. 2025
On March 14, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo will touch down on your third house of communication, bringing powerful shake-ups to your third house of communication and immediate surroundings.
—Valerie Mesa, People.com, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shake up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shake up
Verb
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When Dutchman opened at the Cherry Lane Theater in 1964, its acerbic take on the relationship between white and Black Americans shocked audiences.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
The Hollywood Reporter,
8 Mar. 2025
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Washington’s pivot toward Moscow has not only shocked European allies but left open an opportunity for Beijing to push back against longstanding criticism of its close ties with Moscow, which have only expanded since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.—
Simone McCarthy,
CNN,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Market shakeouts are about testing risk tolerances, forcing a rethink of unexamined premises and, at times, chastening the arrogant.—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
3 Mar. 2025
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What Lies Ahead for Retail? Retailers that survive this ongoing shakeout will likely do so by adapting to changing consumer behaviors.—
Chris Westfall,
Forbes,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Running myself ragged trying to catch up rarely ends well for my immune system and the shutdown method just makes matters worse.—
Patricia Shannon,
Southern Living,
9 Mar. 2025
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Colin Kramer, a legislative representative and union steward for at the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, said his local is doing something different this year by explicitly not calling for an avoidance of a government shutdown.—
Olivia Olander,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Dismay or appall you, sure, but never surprise you.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Dec. 2024
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That kind of appalls me to think that people need not expect that of themselves.—
David Marchese Photograph by Mamadi Doumbouya,
New York Times,
15 Feb. 2024
Noun
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On Wednesday evening, a small group of parents, students and CTU organizers gathered outside Rufino Tamayo Elementary in Gage Park holding signs and plastic candles to protest the potential closing of the school.—
Ikram Mohamed,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2025
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The closing scene is Trump relaxing on a sun lounger next to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is widely portrayed as a devil in Gaza.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
Newsweek,
26 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In the months since the militant opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stunned the world by bringing down the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024, Syria has faced many pressing concerns.—
PATRICK VINCK,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Mar. 2025
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Maryland has never earned the No. 4 seed in the league tournament and was the No. 5 seed once in 2019 when it was stunned by No. 13 Nebraska in the second round.—
Edward Lee,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shake up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shake%20up. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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