surprise Hear it!

surprise Definition

sur·prise (sər prīz′, sə prīz′)

transitive verb -·prised′, -·pris′·ing

  1. to come upon suddenly or unexpectedly; take unawares
  2. to attack or capture suddenly and without warning
    1. to cause to feel wonder or astonishment by being unexpected
    2. to present (someone) unexpectedly with a gift, etc.
    1. to cause by some unexpected action to do or say something unintended to surprise someone into an admission
    2. to bring out or elicit by such means to surprise an admission from someone

Etymology: ME surprysen < OFr surpris, pp. of sorprendre, to surprise, take napping < sur- (see sur-) + prendre, to take (see prize)

noun

  1. Now Rare the act of surprising or taking unawares
  2. an unexpected seizure or attack
  3. the state of being surprised; feeling aroused by something unusual or unexpected; wonder or astonishment
  4. something that surprises because unexpected, unusual, etc.

surprise Related Forms

sur·pris′·edly adverb sur·pris′er noun

surprise Idioms

take by surprise

  1. to come upon suddenly or without warning
  2. to amaze; astound

surprise Synonyms

surprise

n.

  1. A feeling of amazement

    astonishment, wonderment, shock; see wonder 1.

  2. The cause of surprise, sense 1

    something unexpected, blow, sudden attack, unexpected good fortune, sudden misfortune, unawaited event, unsuspected plot.

take by surprise

startle, assault, sneak up on; see attack 1, 2, surprisev. 1, 2.

surprise Synonyms

surprise

v.

  1. To amaze

    astonish, astound, amaze, bewilder, confound, shock, overwhelm, dumbfound, unsettle, stun, electrify, petrify, startle, stupefy, stagger, nonplus, take aback, cause wonder, strike with wonder, strike with awe, dazzle, daze, perplex, stagger one's belief, leave open-mouthed, leave aghast, make all agog, flabbergast*, floor*, bowl over*, jar*, flash upon one*, carry one off his feet*, jolt*, take one's breath away*, strike dumb*, make one's hair stand on end*, make one's head swim*, creep up on*, catch unaware*; see also confuse, frighten 1.

  2. To take unaware

    take by surprise, catch one in the act of, burst in upon, startle, catch off-balance*, catch flat-footed*, catch one napping*, catch asleep*, nab*, pop in on*; see also sense 1.

surprise implies an affecting with wonder because of being unexpected, unusual, etc. I'm surprised at your concern; astonish implies a surprising with something that seems unbelievable to astonish with sleight of hand; amaze suggests an astonishing that causes bewilderment or confusion amazed at the sudden turn of events; astound suggests such a shocking surprise that one is left helpless to act or think I was astounded by the proposal; flabbergast is a colloquial term suggesting an astounding to the point of speechlessness

surprise Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • express: Dr. Ohri expressed some surprise at the low number of applications received.
  • spoil: Tonight's winners, ( thought I'd spoil the surprise ) Blindsight, employ good heavy rhythms, hard rifts and unforgiving vocals!

Adjective modifier

  • pleasant: It is always a pleasant surprise to see who turns up.
  • nasty: A professional builder should explain things clearly to ensure that there are no nasty surprises!
  • unpleasant: Jim and Pam's relationship runs into further trouble, and Cathy gets an unpleasant surprise on her return home.
  • hidden: But firms can't hide behind a spider's web of hidden surprises and get-out clauses.
  • nice: A nice surprise for the closing song rescues the second half.
  • big: Northern Ireland produced the biggest surprise of the early games.

Modifies a noun

  • announcement: Well, I thought about making a surprise announcement in one of the lectures, and invite the whole of year 2!
  • attack: Using his surprise attack King Harold's forces cut the Vikings to pieces.
  • appearance: Nemesis arrived a short time after the Terminators, and with him came some some more surprise appearances.
  • guest: A fully interactive experience is promised for visitors with activities, refreshments and surprise guests.

Modifying Another Word

pleasantly: I was also pleasantly surprised to have seen the " who wrote the bible " program during the festive holidays.

Used with why or when

when: He didn't follow me up, but later he did, and I was surprised when we made love.

Infinitive complement

  • discover: I was really surprised to discover to what extent underwater life goes on in winter.
  • hear: I was very surprised indeed to hear from you.
  • find: In spring 2004 we were surprised to find the dormant Sydenham Town the most popular Sydenham site by Google ranking.
  • learn: I was surprised to learn that this was wrong.
  • see: Some blacks were visibly surprised to see us there.

Preposition: in

store: I developed a feeling that viruses of plants may have some unpleasant surprises in store for us, with possibly serious consequences.