surprise

¹sur·prise

noun \sə(r)-ˈprīz\

Definition of SURPRISE

1

a : an attack made without warning

b : a taking unawares

2

: something that surprises

3

: the state of being surprised : astonishment

Variants of SURPRISE

sur·prise also sur·prize \sə(r)-ˈprīz\

Examples of SURPRISE

1. What a pleasant surprise to see you!
2. It's no surprise that he doesn't want to go.
3. Is it any surprise that she should feel disappointed?
4. The teacher sprang a surprise on us and gave a pop quiz.
5. I have a special surprise for the children.
6. The trip was a surprise for her birthday.
7. Is the party a surprise?
8. Imagine our surprise when they sold their house and moved to the Bahamas.
9. He stared at her in surprise.

Origin of SURPRISE

Middle English suppryse exaction, seizure, from Anglo-French sousprise, supprise, from feminine of supris, surpris, suspris, past participle of surprendre & susprendre to capture, take by surprise, from sur- & sus-, suz under + prendre to take — more at prize, sous

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SURPRISE

Synonyms

bombshell, jar, jaw-dropper, jolt, stunner, bolt from the blue (also bolt out of the blue)

Related Words

shock, thunderclap; eye-opener, revelation, shocker; amazement, marvel, wonder; fillip, kick, kicker, twist, wrinkle

Rhymes with SURPRISE

abscise, advise, apprise, apprize, arise, assize, baptize, bite-size, breadthwise, capsize, chastise, clockwise, coastwise, cognize, comprise, crabwise, crack wise, crosswise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, disprize, door prize, downsize, earthrise, edgewise, emprise, endwise, excise, fanwise, franchise, full-size, grecize, high-rise, incise, king-size, leastwise, lengthwise, Levi's, life-size, likewise, low-rise, man-size, mid-rise, midsize, misprize, moonrise, nowise, outsize, piecewise, pint-size, premise, quantize, queen-size, remise, reprise, revise, rightsize, slantwise, streetwise, stylize, suffice, sunrise, surmise, trim size, twin-size, unwise, uprise

²surprise

verb

sur·prised also sur·prizedsur·pris·ing also sur·priz·ing

Definition of SURPRISE

transitive verb

1

: to attack unexpectedly; also : to capture by an unexpected attack

2

a : to take unawares <police surprised the burglars in the store>

b : to detect or elicit by a taking unawares <sometimes surprised a tragic shadow in her eyes — Willa Cather>

3

: to strike with wonder or amazement especially because unexpected <his conduct surprised me>

intransitive verb

: to cause astonishment or surprise <her success didn't surprise>

— sur·pris·er noun

Variants of SURPRISE

surprise also surprize

Examples of SURPRISE

1. The results will surprise you.
2. Nothing you could say would surprise me.
3. They surprised everyone by moving to the Bahamas.
4. A police officer surprised the burglars.
5. The troops were surprised by an attack from the north.

First Known Use of SURPRISE

15th century

Related to SURPRISE

Synonyms

amaze, astonish, astound, bowl over, dumbfound (also dumfound), flabbergast, floor, rock, shock, startle, stun, stupefy, thunderstrike, knock for a loop, take aback, take by surprise

Related Words

befuddle, bewilder, blindside, blow away, confound, confuse, daze, discomfit, disconcert, dismay, jar, muddle, nonplus, perplex, shake up

Synonym Discussion of SURPRISE

surprise, astonish, astound, amaze, flabbergast mean to impress forcibly through unexpectedness. surprise stresses causing an effect through being unexpected but not necessarily unusual or novel <surprised to find them at home>. astonish implies surprising so greatly as to seem incredible <a discovery that astonished the world>. astound stresses the shock of astonishment <too astounded to respond>. amaze suggests an effect of bewilderment <amazed by the immense size of the place>. flabbergast may suggest thorough astonishment and bewilderment or dismay <flabbergasted by his angry refusal>.

Sur·prise

geographical name \sər-ˈprīz\

Definition of SURPRISE

city S cen Arizona W of Phoenix pop 30,848