surprise

noun sur·prise \ sər-ˈprīz , sə- \

variants: or less commonly surprize

|Updated on: 20 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: surprise in a Sentence

Definition of surprise

1 a : an attack made without warning

b : a taking unawares

2 : something that surprises

3 : the feeling caused by something unexpected or unusual

See surprise defined for English-language learners

See surprise defined for kids

Examples of surprise in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of surprise from the Web

Among those sharing Conduzzi's surprise over the revelation of St. Paul's role in baseball history was 29-year-old John Wayne Melovidov, who was born on St. Paul Island and works for the tribal government.

— beth bragg, Anchorage Daily News, "150 years ago on St. Paul Island, Knock Down and Skin ‘Em became Alaska’s first baseball team," 17 June 2018
Because burrata is this neat, soft and supple pouch of cheese with a delicious surprise inside.

— susan selasky, Detroit Free Press, "You just might fall in love with creamy burrata cheese this summer," 17 June 2018
Morris received the trophy and a $5,000 cash prize for his Ménage à Trios Wagyus in the Woods dish, which featured Miyazaki A5 Japanese Wagyu, Mishima Ranch Wagyu Short Rib, and Snake River Farms Wagyu Tenderloin with petit garden surprises.

— patricia dillon, Houston Chronicle, "Wine & Food Week founder labels this year a success," 16 June 2018
With a simple image on Instagram announcing its arrival, pop superstar Beyoncé and her husband, rap mogul Jay-Z, surprise-released a new collaborative album Saturday afternoon.

— randall roberts, latimes.com, "Surprise! Beyoncé and Jay-Z just released a new album, 'Everything Is Love'," 16 June 2018
The militants announced a surprise three-day ceasefire over the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, which began on Friday, except against foreign forces.

— NBC News, "Car bomb tears through joyous Eid cease-fire in Afghanistan, killing at least 20," 16 June 2018
Beyoncé and Jay Z dropped a surprise (though long-rumored) joint album together on Saturday night, June 16, ringing the alarm for the Beyhive to collectively lose its mind.

— krystin arneson, Glamour, "Beyoncé and Jay Z Just Dropped a Surprise Album, So Naturally Twitter Is Losing It," 16 June 2018
Two weeks ago a surprise dust storm swept the planet, much to the disappointment of the science teams operating missions there.

— shannon stirone, WIRED, "Space Photos of the Week: Mars Attacks Opportunity," 16 June 2018
Wednesday’s big surprise started with the team’s mascot, Southpaw, arriving at Alex’s day care in a limousine.

— natalie dreier, ajc, "7-year-old cancer patient makes MLB debut as member of White Sox," 15 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'surprise.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology 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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

surprise Synonyms

Synonyms

bombshell, jar, jaw-dropper, jolt, stunner;

Related Words

shock, thunderclap;

eye-opener, revelation, shocker;

amazement, marvel, wonder;

Phrases

bolt from the blue (also bolt out of the blue);

surprise

verb

variants: or less commonly surprize

Definition of surprise

surprised also surprized; surprising also surprizing

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.

—

surpriser

noun

See surprise defined for English-language learners

Examples of surprise in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of surprise from the Web

The Property Brothers star first surprised his new wife with the sentimental composition on the morning of their wedding in May.

— megan stein, PEOPLE.com, "Drew Scott Serenades Wife Linda with a Love Song He Wrote Himself — See the Music Video," 4 June 2018
This was evident in Trump's 2016 election and the British vote that year to leave the European Union — both surprise setbacks for the free-trade establishment.

— paul wiseman, chicagotribune.com, "Trump's tariffs: What they are and how they would work," 2 June 2018
This was evident in Mr. Trump's 2016 election and the British vote that year to leave the European Union — both surprise setbacks for the free-trade establishment.

— CBS News, "What exactly are Trump's tariffs, and how would they work?," 2 June 2018
While the criminal cases against Rodriguez surprised the judge, the ballet’s recent financial shortfall didn’t.

— john tedesco, San Antonio Express-News, "Ballet San Antonio dancer faces sexual assault charges," 1 June 2018
Four Houston Texans who attended Stanford surprised Brown to personally congratulate the young man for his accomplishments.

— jenny dial creech, Houston Chronicle, "Texans players surprise teen who was accepted to 20 colleges with house visit," 31 May 2018
Ate chicken dinner and then went out and surprised Aunt Helen & Dianne (Uncle Roy was in on it).

— phoebe wall howard, Detroit Free Press, "Service Diary of a Corpsman: Roy L. Wall, LST 509," 28 May 2018
Those who know Seaman, a 29-year-old father to a toddler son and one-month-old daughter, are not surprised at his actions.

— arika herron, Indianapolis Star, "Noblesville school shooting: 'Hero' teacher recovering at home and teen victim 'stable'," 26 May 2018
The Predator Helios 300 Special Edition surprised us with its daring looks, let alone its improvements under the hood.

— melissa riofrio, PCWorld, "Hands-on: The Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition takes the boring out of budget gaming," 24 May 2018

First Known Use of surprise

15th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

surprise Synonyms

Synonyms

amaze, astonish, astound, bowl over, dumbfound (also dumfound), flabbergast, floor, rock, shock, startle, stun, stupefy;

Phrases

knock for a loop, take aback, take by surprise;

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

Surprise

geographical name Sur·prise \ sər-ˈprīz \

Definition of Surprise

city in south central Arizona west of Phoenix population 117,517

SURPRISE Defined for English Language Learners

surprise

noun

Definition of surprise for English Language Learners

: an unexpected event, piece of information, etc.
: an unexpected gift, party, etc.
: the feeling caused by something that is unexpected or unusual

surprise

verb

Definition of surprise for English Language Learners

: to cause (someone) to feel surprised
: to find, attack, or meet (someone or something) unexpectedly

SURPRISE Defined for Kids

surprise

noun sur·prise \ sər-ˈprīz , sə-ˈprīz \

Definition of surprise for Students

1 : something that is unexpected

I have a surprise for you.

2 : astonishment, amazement

… it held up to them a little white object. They all looked at it in surprise …
—C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

3 : an act or instance of coming upon without warning

They were taken by surprise.

surprise

verb

Definition of surprise for Students

surprised; surprising

1 : to cause to feel wonder or amazement because of being unexpected Her resemblance to her father surprised me.

2 : to come upon without warning

The robbers were surprised by police.

3 : to attack without warning : capture by an unexpected attack

Synonym Discussion of surprise

surprise, astonish, and amaze mean to impress forcibly by being unexpected, startling, or unusual. surprise is used when something is unexpected even though it by itself is not startling.

- A sudden storm surprised the hikers.

astonish means to surprise very much with something that is hard or impossible to believe.

- The first airplanes astonished people.

amaze is used when something causes a person to wonder and puzzle over it.

- The magician amazed the children.

Law Dictionary

surprise

noun sur·prise

legal Definition of surprise

1 : a condition or situation in which a party to a proceeding is unexpectedly placed without any fault or neglect of his or her own and that entitles the party to relief (as a new trial)

2 : an aspect of procedural unconscionability that consists of hiding a term of a contract in a mass of text