surprising

sur·prise

 (sər-prīz′)

tr.v. sur·prised, sur·pris·ing, sur·pris·es

1. To cause to feel wonder, astonishment, or amazement, as at something unanticipated: Thinking I was at home, she was surprised to see me in the office. We were surprised that he could recover so quickly.

2.

a. To encounter or discover suddenly or unexpectedly; take or catch unawares: She surprised him as he was reading her diary.

b. To attack or capture suddenly and without warning: surprised the sentries in a predawn raid, wounding several.

3.

a. To cause (someone) to do or say something unintended or to be in an unintended condition: "There passed a scene ... that surprised me into courage to come forward" (Fanny Burney).

b. To elicit or detect through surprise: "She occasionally surprised a look on Jemima's face" (Marcia Willett).

n.

1. The act of surprising or the condition of being surprised: Imagine my surprise on seeing you here.

2. Something, such as an unexpected encounter, event, or gift, that surprises.


[Middle English surprisen, to overcome, from Old French surprise, feminine past participle of surprendre, to surprise : sur-, sur- + prendre, to take (from Latin prehendere, prēndere, to seize; see ghend- in Indo-European roots).]


sur·pris′er n.

sur·pris′ing·ly adv.

Synonyms: surprise, astonish, amaze, astound, dumbfound, flabbergast
These verbs mean to affect a person strongly as being unexpected or unusual. To surprise is to fill with often sudden wonder or disbelief as being unanticipated or out of the ordinary: "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity" (George S. Patton).
Astonish suggests overwhelming surprise: The sight of such an enormous crowd astonished us. Amaze implies astonishment and often bewilderment: The violinist's virtuosity has amazed audiences all over the world. Astound connotes shock, as from something unprecedented in one's experience: We were astounded at the beauty of the mountains. Dumbfound adds to astound the suggestion of perplexity and often speechlessness: His question dumbfounded me, and I could not respond. Flabbergast is used as a more colorful equivalent of astound, astonish, or amaze: "He was utterly flabbergasted by the accusation and for a few moments he was quite unable to reply" (Alexander McCall Smith).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

surprising

(səˈpraɪzɪŋ)

adj

causing surprise; unexpected or amazing

surˈprisingly adv

surˈprisingness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sur•pris•ing

(sərˈpraɪ zɪŋ, sə-)

adj.

causing surprise; unexpected or unusual.

[1570–80]

sur•pris′ing•ly, adv.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.1.surprising - causing surprise or wonder or amazement; "the report shows a surprising lack of hard factual data"; "leaped up with surprising agility"; "she earned a surprising amount of money"

unexpected - not expected or anticipated; "unexpected guests"; "unexpected news"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

surprising

adjective amazing, remarkable, incredible, astonishing, wonderful, unusual, extraordinary, unexpected, staggering, marvellous, startling, astounding, jaw-dropping, unlooked-for A surprising number of customers order the same sandwich each day.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

překvapivýpřekvapující

overraskende

yllättävä

iznenađujući

óvæntur

驚くべき

놀라운

prekvapivý

presenetljiv

förvånande

น่าประหลาดใจ

làm ngạc nhiên

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

surprising

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

surprise

(səˈpraiz) noun

(the feeling caused by) something sudden or unexpected. His statement caused some surprise; Your letter was a pleasant surprise; There were some nasty surprises waiting for her when she returned; He stared at her in surprise; To my surprise the door was unlocked; (also adjective) He paid them a surprise visit.

verb

1. to cause to feel surprise. The news surprised me.

2. to lead, by means of surprise, into doing something. Her sudden question surprised him into betraying himself.

3. to find, come upon, or attack, without warning. They surprised the enemy from the rear.

surˈprised adjective

showing or feeling surprise. his surprised face; I'm surprised (that) he's not here; You behaved badly – I'm surprised at you!; I wouldn't be surprised if he won.

surˈprising adjective

likely to cause surprise. surprising news; It is not surprising that he resigned.

surˈprisingly adverb

Surprisingly, he did win.

take by surprise

1. to catch unawares. The news took me by surprise.

2. to capture (a fort etc) by a sudden, unexpected attack.

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

surprising

مُفَاجِئ překvapující overraskende überraschend απρόσμενος sorprendente yllättävä surprenant iznenađujući sorprendente 驚くべき 놀라운 verrassend overraskende zaskakujący surpreendente удивительный förvånande น่าประหลาดใจ şaşırtıcı làm ngạc nhiên 令人惊喜的

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009