What does surprise mean?
Definitions for surprise
sərˈpraɪz, sə-sur·prise
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word surprise.
Princeton's WordNet
surprisenoun
the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you
surprisenoun
a sudden unexpected event
surprise, surprisalverb
the act of surprising someone
surpriseverb
cause to be surprised
"The news really surprised me"
surpriseverb
come upon or take unawares
"She surprised the couple"; "He surprised an interesting scene"
storm, surpriseverb
attack by storm; attack suddenly
Wiktionary
surprisenoun
Something not expected.
It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought I did.
surprisenoun
Unexpected.
The surprise attack was devastating.
surprisenoun
The feeling that something unexpected has happened.
Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did.
surpriseverb
To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted.
It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.
surpriseverb
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.
surpriseverb
To undergo or witness something unexpected.
He doesn't surprise easily.
surpriseverb
To cause surprise.
surpriseverb
To attack unexpectedly.
surpriseverb
To take unawares.
Webster Dictionary
Surprisenoun
the act of coming upon, or taking, unawares; the act of seizing unexpectedly; surprisal; as, the fort was taken by surprise
Surprisenoun
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
Surprisenoun
anything that causes such a state or emotion
Surprisenoun
a dish covered with a crust of raised paste, but with no other contents
Surprisenoun
to come or fall suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares; to seize or capture by unexpected attack
Surprisenoun
to strike with wonder, astonishment, or confusion, by something sudden, unexpected, or remarkable; to confound; as, his conduct surprised me
Surprisenoun
to lead (one) to do suddenly and without forethought; to bring (one) into some unexpected state; -- with into; as, to be surprised into an indiscretion; to be surprised into generosity
Surprisenoun
to hold possession of; to hold
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Surprise
sur-prīz′, n. act of taking unawares: the emotion caused by anything sudden: amazement.—v.t. to come upon suddenly or unawares: to lead or bring unawares, to betray (with into): to strike with wonder or astonishment: to confuse.—n. Surprīs′al, act of surprising.—adv. Surprīs′edly.—adj. Surprīs′ing, exciting surprise: wonderful: unexpected.—adv. Surprīs′ingly.—n. Surprīs′ingness. [Fr.,—surpris, pa.p. of surprendre—L. super, over, prehendĕre, to catch.]
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
surprise
In war, to fall on an enemy unexpectedly, in marching through narrow and difficult passes, when one part of an army has passed, and is not able to come at once to the succor of the other; as in the passage of woods, rivers, inclosures, etc. A place is surprised by drains, casements, or the issues of rivers or canals; by encumbering the bridge or gate, or by wagons meeting and stopping each other; or by sending soldiers into the place, under pretense of being deserters, who, on entering, surprise the guard, being sustained by troops at hand in ambush, to whom they give entrance, and thereby seize the place. Military history abounds with instances of successful surprises.
Editors Contribution
surprise
To bring, give or receive a joyful, logical and just contribution or gift.
We all love our family so we regularly arrange a family gathering for us all, we love to surprise with the type of food we contribute.
Submitted by MaryC on April 16, 2016
Suggested Resources
surprise
The surprise symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the surprise symbol and its characteristic.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surprise' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2153
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surprise' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3235
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surprise' in Nouns Frequency: #903
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'surprise' in Verbs Frequency: #894
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of surprise in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of surprise in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of surprise in a Sentence
That Vincent Jackson brain showed stage 2 CTE should no longer surprise us ; these results have become commonplace. What is surprising is that so many football players have died with CTE and so little is being done to make football, at all levels, safer by limiting the number of repetitive subconcussive hits.
He got fouled, he got straight back up again, and that tenacity really took me by surprise. He was better than all the players that we had.
I think a better system would have made it so this wasn't a surprise to all involved.
What you're seeing was not a surprise, cap-and-trade is a very attractive funding source. But as a financing source, it's not there yet. This is a matter of both time and the marketplace getting used to these revenues.
The Bank of Canada's surprise cut to its overnight rate will help to buffer against the impact on employment, household incomes and mortgage serviceability in particular for Western Canada, the ensuing drop in the Canadian dollar should also provide a stimulus for the economy nationwide.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for surprise
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- دهشة, فاجأ, دَهْشة, باغت, مُفاجَأَة, دهشArabic
- sorpresa, sorprendreCatalan, Valencian
- překvapení, překvapitCzech
- overraskelse, overraskeDanish
- Überraschung, überraschenGerman
- έκπληξη, αιφνιδιάζω, ξάφνιασμα, εκπλήσσω, [[κάνω]] [[έκπληξη]], ξαφνικός, ξαφνιάζω, αιφνίδιοςGreek
- surprizo, surpriziEsperanto
- sorpresa, sorprenderSpanish
- تعجب ساختن, تعجب, سورپریزPersian
- yllättää, yllätys, hämmästys, hämmästyttääFinnish
- surprendre, étonner, surpriseFrench
- ionadhIrish
- iongnadhScottish Gaelic
- sorpresa, sorprenderGalician
- הפתעהHebrew
- meglepetés, meglep, váratlan, meglepetésszerű, ámulat, megdöbbenésHungarian
- անակնկալ, անակնկալի բերել, զարմանք, զարմացնելArmenian
- surprizarIdo
- sorprendere, meravigliare, sorpresa, stupireItalian
- הַפתָעָהHebrew
- 驚き, 驚かすJapanese
- 놀라게 하다, 놀람Korean
- IwwerraschungLuxembourgish, Letzeburgesch
- ninihi, komutuMāori
- kejutan, mengejutMalay
- overraskelseNorwegian
- verrassing, verrassen, verbazing, verbazenDutch
- overraskingNorwegian Nynorsk
- overraskning, overraskelse, overraske, overraskelses-Norwegian
- zaskakiwać, niespodzianka, dziwićPolish
- surpreender, surpresaPortuguese
- surpriză, surprinde, surprindereRomanian
- неожиданность, сюрприз, удивлять, удивить, удивлениеRussian
- изненађењеSerbo-Croatian
- presenečenje, presenetitiSlovene
- förvåning, överraskning, överraskaSwedish
- ఆశ్చర్యపరచుTelugu
- sürpriz yapmak, şaşırtmak, sürprizTurkish
- حیرتUrdu
- ewaermint, sbarmintWalloon
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"surprise." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 25 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/surprise>.
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