shocks; shocked; shocking
1 [+ object] : to surprise and usually upset (someone)
The attack shocked the world.
His anger shocked us.
— often used as (be) shocked
They were shocked to discover/learn that their son was taking drugs.
— often + at or by
I am shocked at/by how easy it was to do.
Everyone was deeply shocked at/by her behavior.
We were shocked by the news of her death.
— often + into
We were shocked into silence by what we saw. [=we were so surprised and upset by what we saw that we could not say anything]
The news was so upsetting that people were finally shocked into (taking) action.
2 : to cause (someone) to feel horror or disgust
[+ object]
He enjoys shocking his readers.
I was shocked by their bad language.
[no object]
The art exhibit is meant to shock.
— shocked adjective
She had a shocked look on her face.
He stood in shocked silence after hearing the news.