Alarmed

How to spell alarmed

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce alarmed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alarmed mean?

1. adjectiveFeeling sudden fear, worry, or anxious concern about something.
2. verbCaused someone to feel fear or anxious concern (past tense of alarm).
3. adjectiveFitted with a warning device that sounds if disturbed or entered.

Alarmed in a sentence

• adjective

  She felt alarmed when the smoke detector went off in the night.

• verb

  The sudden drop in temperature alarmed the farmers about their crops.

• adjective

  Every fire exit in the building is alarmed to deter misuse.

• adjective

  Investors grew alarmed as the share price kept falling.

• verb

  The unexpected bill alarmed the whole household.

• adjective

  The jewellery cabinet is alarmed and monitored overnight.

Where does alarmed come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word traces back to the Italian phrase all'arme, literally meaning 'to arms', a shout that called soldiers to seize their weapons when danger appeared. Old French borrowed it as alarme, and English took it up in the late 1300s, at first as the noun and verb 'alarm', a call to prepare for battle. From the idea of being suddenly called to defend oneself, the sense softened into a general feeling of fright or anxious surprise. The form 'alarmed' is the past participle, used both as a verb and as an adjective describing someone filled with that anxious dread, and later describing a building protected by a warning device. The single 'l' and the 'a' before 'larm' often trip writers up precisely because the original meaning, 'to the arms', has long been forgotten.

How the word is built

• a- (intensive, from Italian all'arme: to arms)
• larm (arms/weapon)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)