MEANING
To disturb someone’s confidence or emotional steadiness.
Use it for
confidence shaken by pressure; intimidation attemptsShow an effective challenge to an apparently steady person.
Words that belong together
- rattle someone’s confidence
- visibly rattled
- hard to rattle
On the page
The anonymous message rattled her more than she admitted.
It took two near misses to rattle the veteran driver.
His confidence was rattled by the prosecutor’s calm repetition of the question.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- rattle / rattles
- Past tense
- rattled
- Past participle
- rattled
- Present participle
- rattling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- rattle / rattles
- Present continuous
- am/is/are rattling
- Present perfect
- have/has rattled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been rattling
- Past
- rattled
- Past continuous
- was/were rattling
- Past perfect
- had rattled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been rattling
- Future
- will rattle / rattles
- Future continuous
- will be rattling
- Future perfect
- will have rattled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been rattling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: fear. Conversational figurative sense; stronger than merely distracting, but not necessarily frightening. The literal sound sense is separate. Verb forms (base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing): rattle, rattles, rattled, rattled, rattling.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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