surprise
/sə(ː)ˈpɹaɪ̯z/ noun, verb, interjection, proper noun
Forms surprises surprising surprised surprize suprise
- noun Something unexpected. “It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought.”
- noun A mess of feces, left by a pet or small child in an unexpected place or at an unexpected time. “After the housecleaners drove off, the cat left a surprise for us on the carpet.”
- noun The feeling that something unexpected has happened. “Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did.”
- verb (transitive) To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted by something unexpected. “It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.”
- verb (transitive) To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise. “He doesn’t know that I’m in the country – I thought I’d turn up at his house and surprise him.”
- verb (intransitive) To undergo or witness something unexpected. “He doesn’t surprise easily.”
- verb (intransitive) To cause surprise.
- verb (transitive) To attack unexpectedly.
- verb (transitive) To take unawares. “I surprised a raccoon scavenging through the garbage last night.”
- interjection Drawing attention to a surprising action by oneself. “"Surprise!" we shouted as we jumped out from the cupboard. "Happy birthday!"”
- interjection (sarcastic) Drawing attention to something that should have been obvious.
- proper noun A city in Maricopa County, Arizona, the largest place with this name.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Jackson County, Indiana.
- proper noun A village in Butler County, Nebraska.
- proper noun A populated place in Greene County, New York.
- proper noun Former name of Surprise Station, California.
Synonyms
astonishment more than one bargained for unexpected give one a start amazement awe bewilderment flabbergast flabbergastation flabbergastment shock stupefaction overtake surprisal storm
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English surprise, borrowed from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre (“to overtake”), from sor- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin super- + Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”). Doublet of suppli.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The act of coming upon, or taking, unawares; the act of seizing unexpectedly; surprisal; as, the fort was taken by surprise.
- noun The state of being surprised, or taken unawares, by some act or event which could not reasonably be foreseen; emotion excited by what is sudden and strange; a suddenly excited feeling of wonder or astonishment.
- verb To come or fall suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares; to seize or capture by unexpected attack.
- verb To strike with wonder, astonishment, or confusion, by something sudden, unexpected, or remarkable; to confound; as, his conduct surprised me. I am surprised with an uncouth fear. Shak.
Etymology [F. surprise, fr. surprendre, surpris; sur over + prendre to take, L. prehendere. See Sur-, and Prehensile.]
Etymology [From Surprise, n.: cf. F. surprendre, p.p. surpris.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “surprise”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details