Last Saturday, I was having a “composition marathon” with the upper primary students to prepare them for their upcoming CA. One of the themes was to write an essay about how you plan for a party for your sister who has returned from overseas.
Some students used “shocked” to describe how the protagonist felt when he heard about the sister’s return. Another also wrote that the sister was “shocked” to get a surprise party.
This is from the dictionary:
shock ʃɒk/ verb past tense: shocked; past participle: shocked
1. cause (someone) to feel surprised and upset.
“she was shocked at the state of his injuries”
o offend the moral feelings of; outrage.
“the revelations shocked the nation”
synonyms: appal, horrify, scandalize, outrage, repel, revolt, disgust, nauseate, sicken, offend, give offence to, traumatize, make someone’s blood run cold, distress, upset, perturb, disturb, disquiet, unsettle, discompose, agitate; More
stun, rock, stagger, astound, astonish, amaze, startle, surprise, dumbfound, daze, shake, shake up, jolt, set someone back on their heels, take aback, throw, unnerve, disconcert, bewilder
“her savage murder shocked the nation”
o experience outrage.
“he shocked so easily”
As you can see, shock is related to words like “upset” and “outrage”, not exactly the feelings you experience when your sister returns (unless you hate her) or when someone throws you a surprise party.
So remember, “shocked” should not be used to describe feelings of joy.