sobresaltar

sobresaltar (first-person singular present sobresalto, first-person singular preterite sobresaltei, past participle sobresaltado)

1. Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of sobressaltar.
   • 1938, Graciliano Ramos, “Contas [Accounts]”, in Vidas Seccas [Barren Lives]‎, Rio de Janeiro: Livraria José Olympio Editora, page 146:

     […] sempre que os homens sabidos lhe diziam palavras difficeis, elle sahia logrado. Sobresaltava-se escutando-as.

     whenever the learned men spoke complex words to him, he would end up exploited. He got startled when he heard them.

From sobre- +‎ saltar. Cognate with English somersault.

• IPA^(key): /sobɾesalˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: so‧bre‧sal‧tar

sobresaltar (first-person singular present sobresalto, first-person singular preterite sobresalté, past participle sobresaltado)

1. to spook, flinch, startle, shock

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:asustar

2. (reflexive) to jump

• “sobresaltar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10