surprised 1 of 2

adjective

variants also surprized
Definition of surprisednext
as in startled

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surprised

2 of 2

verb

variants also surprized
past tense of surprise
1
as in amazed
to make a strong impression on (someone) with something unexpected I was very surprised when my parents offered to pay the down payment on our house

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in ambushed
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise FBI agents surprised the counterfeiters in their own base of operations

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of surprised
Adjective
Whenever this feature comes up in conversations with other parents, at least one person is surprised and grateful to learn about it. — Emily Palmer Heller, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026 In other words, don’t be surprised if Peacock, Fox One or other services are available soon as an add-on within Netflix, and sooner rather than later, mirroring what has been a successful strategy from the likes of Roku, Prime Video and YouTube. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
Verb
What surprised me most about that decision inside our own company wasn’t the vendors’ answer. — Juan Carlos Santiago, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 Her family supported her, even when her tastes surprised them; school could be lonelier. — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for surprised
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surprised
  1. startled
  2. amazed
  3. ambushed
  4. awed
  5. shocked
  6. attacked
  7. bewildered
  8. stunned
Adjective
  • In the past, horses have collapsed, gotten startled and run off, hitting cars or other objects, with each accident resulting in fresh calls for a ban.
    — Anthony Izaguirre, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Ewart, 43, a fellow opponent of the data center project, was startled to hear that.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of startled
Verb
  • Larry remarks, amazed all these years later by this odd before-they-were-stars encounter.
    — Blake J. Harris, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2026
  • And especially with the stock market—I’m amazed the stock market still hasn’t really taken the hit.
    — Victoria Feng, The Atlantic, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of amazed
Verb
  • Jackson Chourio ambushed Blake Snell’s first pitch of the night for a leadoff blast, and Robert Gasser protected the lead with five shutout frames.
    — Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Shot in the Canary Islands, Doom Scroll watches as a family’s Passover Seder is ambushed by intruders hungry for revenge, viral fame and power.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of ambushed
Adjective
  • This audience listened in awed silence, and by the end of the song, everyone around us was crying as well, before jolting upward in a spontaneous standing ovation — one of three.
    — James Gunn, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Maxwell, a fiction editor at The New Yorker, drew upon his own awed discovery of France in 1948; the novel’s opening paragraphs show one of the protagonists weeping at the sight of the French shore.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 28 July 2026
Definition of awed
Verb
  • His daughter, Leslie Gonzalez, wrote that her father was shocked with a Taser twice and pinned to the ground before being taken to the hospital for serious injuries.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The news of the cancer diagnosis on Tuesday shocked people inside the Vatican and across the Catholic world, given the pope was known for being in good physical shape.
    — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of shocked
Verb
  • The men were returning to camp when their white armored Toyota Land Cruiser was attacked by members of the two Haitian gangs.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • After Israel accepted its meager portion, Arabs attacked and retained a significant part of the land that was to be divided between Jews and Arabs.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacked
Adjective
  • They were soon surrounded by a crowd of about 1,000 bewildered villagers, who alerted forest officials patrolling nearby.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026
  • What appears before the bewildered trio is a boy with a face resembling a frog’s, named Fūsuke.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of bewildered
Verb
  • Debbie Sullivan, who has lived in the neighborhood just west of Country Walk for more than 30 years, told CBS News Miami she was stunned by the violence in her community.
    — Sergio Candido, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Resigned to releasing it themselves on YouTube, Sakurai and André were stunned when Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim took a flyer on the series in 2010.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of stunned

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Cite this Entry

“Surprised.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surprised. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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