shock
/ˈʃɔk/
The Italian word for 'shock' is shock.
The English loanword shock is used in Italian to describe a sudden emotional or psychological disturbance. While shock is a common way to express this, you can also use sorpresa as a common and neutral term for shock. If the shock is a positive experience, such as wonder or amazement, you might use meraviglia. In a romantic context, the phrase colpo di fulmine is used metaphorically to describe the sudden and intense shock of love at first sight.
Meaning: a sudden mental or emotional disturbance (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
Because shock is treated as a masculine noun in Italian, you use the masculine indefinite article uno before it, resulting in uno shock.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈʃɔk/
Did you know?
- To describe a state of shock that leaves someone speechless, Italians often use the word stravolto, which suggests being 'overturned' or 'flipped inside out'.
- While 'shock' is used for psychological trauma, the word scossa is used to describe the physical 'shock' or sudden jolt of an earthquake.
- In Italian, the word trauma is often used interchangeably with shock in everyday conversation, even for minor inconveniences that would not be considered medical traumas in English.
Examples in context
- Fu un tale shock.It was such a shock.This sentence is useful for emphasizing the scale of the event using shock.Tatoeba #2851815 by Guybrush88, translation #42717 by CM
- È stato uno shock.It was a shock.This sentence is useful for stating that something was a shock using shock.Tatoeba #4397931 by Guybrush88, translation #4397611 by CK
- Morì per lo shock.She died of shock.This sentence is useful for describing a cause of death using shock.Tatoeba #7270499 by Guybrush88, translation #310930 by CK
- 33 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Martina and Matteo are talking about a sudden piece of bad news.
- MartinaHo ricevuto una notizia terribile.I received some terrible news.
- MatteoMi dispiace, è stato uno shock per te?I am sorry, was it a shock for you?
- MartinaSì, sono ancora sotto shock.Yes, I am still in shock.
- MatteoTi capisco, posso fare qualcosa per te?I understand, can I do something for you?
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry shock, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
