surprisingly

adverb

sur·​pris·​ing·​ly sər-ˈprī-ziŋ-lē 

sə-

1

: in a surprising manner : to a surprising degree

a surprisingly fast runner

2

: it is surprising that

surprisingly, voter turnout was high

Examples of surprisingly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These interactions appeared to represent a surprisingly widespread aspect of primate behavior. — Cyril Grueter, Scientific American, 8 Aug. 2026

In a culture obsessed with doing more, buying more and optimizing more, simplicity has become surprisingly disruptive. — Karin Eldor, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026

The surprisingly common diagnosis has several culprits and the symptoms can be silent. — Alexandra Frost, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026

In a report out this week, researchers Ingrid Chen, Marianna Kudlyak and Riva Mikhlin of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that landing a job has gotten tougher in the past couple of years – surprisingly so. — Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for surprisingly

• tantalizingly
• unsurprisingly
• uncompromisingly

Kids Definition

surprisingly

adverb

sur·​pris·​ing·​ly -lē 

1

: in a surprising manner : to a surprising degree

a surprisingly fast runner

2

: it is surprising that

surprisingly, no one disagreed