Hit with a jump scare

The answer to “Hit with a jump scare” in the Wall Street Journal crossword is STARTLED — a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal crossword on September 4, 2026, a Friday puzzle, at 92-Down. Below you'll find why that fill fits, every other answer we've recorded for this clue, and links into the puzzle it came from.

“Hit with a jump scare” answer

STARTLED (8 letters)

Reveal the solution one letter at a time with the tiles above if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Just want it outright? The answer is STARTLED.

What does STARTLED mean?

Reading the plain dictionary sense of STARTLED is often the fastest way to see why it answers this clue.

When else has “Hit with a jump scare” appeared?

Wall Street Journal reuses clues across dates, sometimes with a different answer depending on the grid. Here's where this exact clue has shown up, and what the answer was each time — handy when you're checking whether today's fill is the only one.

September 4, 2026 (most recent) → STARTLED. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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