shaken

The verb is derived from Middle English (i)shaken, from (i- (prefix forming past participle forms of verbs))^[1] + shaken (“to tremble, shake; etc.”)^[2] + -en (suffix forming past participle forms of verbs).^[3]

The adjective is derived from the verb.^[4]

By surface analysis, shake (verb) +‎ -n (a variant of -en (suffix forming past participle forms of verbs; and adjectives)).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃeɪk(ə)n/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• enPR: shā′kən, (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃeɪkən/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

  (file)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪkən
• Hyphenation: shak‧en

shaken (comparative more shaken, superlative most shaken)

1. Moved rapidly in opposite directions alternatingly.
   • 1849, [Matthew] A[rnold], “The Strayed Reveller”, in The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems, London: B. Fellowes, […], →OCLC, page 22:

     [A] chief, / With shout and shaken spear / Stands at the prow, and guides them: […]

   • 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXXVI, in Daniel Deronda, volume III, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book V (Mordecai), page 97:

     For the moment she felt like a shaken child—shaken out of its wailings into awe, and she said humbly—"I will try. I will think."

   1. Of a drink, especially (alcoholic beverages) a cocktail: mixed by being agitated with ice in a shaker.
      • 1956, Ian Fleming, “Bitter Champagne”, in Diamonds are Forever (A New Portway Large Print Book), Bath, Somerset: Chivers Press by arrangement with Jonathan Cape, published 1982, →ISBN, page 92:

        The waiter brought the Martinis, shaken and not stirred, as [James] Bond had stipulated, and some slivers of lemon peel in a wine glass. Bond twisted two of them and let them sink to the bottom of his drink.

2. Caused to move (and usually weakened) by a strong force.

   The earthquake led to many shaken buildings and structures.

   • a. 1823 (date written), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Scenes from the Faust of Goëthe”, in Percy Bysshe Shelley, transl., edited by Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 404:

     The trunks [of trees] are crushed and shattered / By the fierce blast's unconquerable stress. / […] / And through the ruins of the shaken mountain / The airs hiss and howl— […]

3. (by extension)
   1. (archaic or obsolete) Of a cask: taken to pieces which are then tied up together for transportation.
      • 1575, Richard Hakluyt, “The Request of an Honest Merchant to a Friend of His, to be Aduised and Directed in the Course of Killing the Whale, as Followeth. Anno 1575.”, in The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, […], London: […] George Bishop and Ralph Newberie, deputies to Christopher Barker, […], published 1589, →OCLC, page 437:

        A proportion for the ſetting foorth of a ſhip of 200. tunne, for the killing of the VVhale. […] 800. emptie ſhaken hogſheds, […]

   2. (mining) Of something mined such as coal or ore: broken into pieces.
   3. (timber industry) Of timber: damaged from being cracked.
      • 1680, Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] XII. Applied to the Art of Turning.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678, →OCLC, § XIII (Of Turning a Cilinder in Soft Wood), pages 206–207:

        [Y]ou muſt chuſe a piece of VVood at leaſt tvvo Inches and a quarter over, leſt you vvant Stuff to vvork on: Nay, if your Stuff prove ſhaken or othervviſe unſound, or your Centers be not very exactly pitcht, you may vvant yet more Stuff; […]

4. (figurative)
   1. Chiefly of a person: having had one's composure or confidence disrupted or upset; in a state of shock or trauma.

      Synonyms: rattled, shocked, (slang) shook

      Antonym: unshaken

      We were left shaken by the revelations of abuse.

      • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 93:

        My mother is tolerably well, I trust; though her spirits are greatly shaken. She is up stairs and will have great satisfaction in seeing you all. She does not yet leave her dressing-room.

      • 2020 April 1, Renxin, “Reflecting on History: From the Soviet Communist Party to the Chinese Communist Party”, in Minghui‎^[1], Falun Dafa, archived from the original on 12 July 2025:

        The truth left many people shaken. They were shocked to realize that they'd been lied to about so many things. The Soviets began to reflect on what they understood about the history of the Communist Party. Five million out of the 19 million Party members publicly quit the CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union] before its collapse.

   2. Weakened by some event.

      Antonym: unshaken

      • 1641 May, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC, page 87:

        Be mov'd vvith pitty at the afflicted ſtate of this our ſhaken Monarchy, that novv lies labouring under the throvves, and ſtruggling againſt the grudges of more dreaded Calamities.

shaken

1. past participle of shake

Borrowed from Japanese 車剣 (しゃけん, shaken), from 車 (しゃ, sha, “vehicle; wheel”) + 剣 (けん, ken, “sword”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑːkɛn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɑkɛn/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sha‧ken

shaken (plural shaken)

1. (weaponry) A flat shuriken (“dart or throwing blade”) resembling a spiked wheel, as opposed to the longer stick-like kind.

   Hypernym: shuriken

• Hankes, nakhes

shaken

1. alternative form of schaken