struck
B1Neutral to formal; common in written and spoken English.
Definition
Meaning
The past tense and past participle of 'strike', meaning to hit forcefully or to have a sudden strong effect on the mind.
Can describe being deeply affected or impressed by something (e.g., 'struck by beauty'), the act of hitting, or the cessation of work in protest.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
As the past form of 'strike', it covers physical impact, mental impression, and industrial action. It is irregular ('strike-struck-struck').
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. 'Struck' is the standard past form in both. The adjective 'stricken' is more common in formal/AmE for affected by illness/misfortune, where BrE might use 'struck' more broadly.
Connotations
Identical core meaning. 'Struck' in the sense of industrial action is equally common.
Frequency
Slightly higher frequency in AmE in the 'struck by' (impressed/affected) sense, based on corpus data.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[NP] struck [NP] (direct object)[NP] was struck by [NP] (agentive passive)[NP] struck [NP] as [AdjP/NP] (impression)It struck [NP] that... (cognitive)Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “struck by lightning”
- “struck a chord”
- “struck dumb”
- “struck gold”
- “struck oil”
- “struck while the iron is hot”
- “horror-struck”
- “love-struck”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
The union struck for three days before an agreement was reached.
Academic
Researchers were struck by the correlation's unexpected strength.
Everyday
I was really struck by how friendly everyone was.
Technical
The piston struck the cylinder head due to incorrect timing.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The clock struck midnight.
- She was struck by his honesty.
- Workers struck over pay.
American English
- The idea struck me as brilliant.
- Lightning struck the old barn.
- The company was struck by a series of lawsuits.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- He struck the ball with his foot.
- The bell struck for lunch.
- I was struck by the beauty of the mountains.
- The disaster struck the coastal town suddenly.
- A profound sense of melancholy struck him as he left.
- Negotiators finally struck a compromise after hours of debate.
- The resemblance between the two cases is immediately striking to any observer.
- The court's ruling was struck down as unconstitutional.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'The clock struck one' – a clear, single, impactful event in the past.
Conceptual Metaphor
IDEAS ARE PHYSICAL FORCES ('An idea struck me'), TIME IS A MOVING OBJECT ('The hour struck'), NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE PHYSICAL BLOWS ('Grief-struck').
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Не путать с 'strong' (сильный). 'Struck' – это прошедшее время от 'strike' (ударять, бастовать). Прямого однокоренного эквивалента нет.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'striked' (incorrect regularisation).
- Confusing 'struck' (past action) with 'stricken' (current state, often negative).
- Using 'struck' instead of 'stuck' (from 'stick').
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence uses 'struck' INCORRECTLY?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Both are past participles of 'strike'. 'Struck' is more common and general ('He was struck by a ball'). 'Stricken' is used in formal/literary contexts, often for being affected by something negative ('poverty-stricken', 'stricken with grief') or in fixed phrases ('stricken from the record').
Not directly. 'Struck' is the past tense of 'strike', which can mean 'to stop work in protest'. So 'The workers struck' means they began a strike. The state of not working is 'on strike'.
'Struck' is from 'strike' (hit, impress). 'Stuck' is the past tense/participle of 'stick' (adhere, become fixed). E.g., 'He struck the wall' (hit it) vs. 'The picture stuck to the wall' (adhered).
It is a passive voice construction. The active form would be '[Something] struck me.' The passive form 'I was struck by...' is very common, especially for describing mental impressions.