English Explanatory Dictionary

surprise

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Something unexpected.
  2. A mess of feces, left by a pet or small child in an unexpected place or at an unexpected time.
  3. The feeling that something unexpected has happened.
verb
  1. To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted by something unexpected.
  2. To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise.
  3. To undergo or witness something unexpected.
  4. To cause surprise.
  5. To attack unexpectedly.
  6. To take unawares.
intj
  1. Drawing attention to a surprising action by oneself.
  2. Drawing attention to something that should have been obvious.
name
  1. A number of places in the United States:
  2. A city in Maricopa County, Arizona, the largest place with this name.
  3. An unincorporated community in Jackson County, Indiana.
  4. A village in Butler County, Nebraska.
  5. A populated place in Greene County, New York.
  6. Former name of Surprise Station, California.

Pronunciation

/sə(ː)ˈpɹaɪ̯z/ /sɚˈpɹaɪ̯z/ /səˈpɹaɪ̯z/ en-us-surprise.ogg /sɚˈpɹaːz/ /səˈpɹaːz/ /sə(ː)ˈpɹɑ̟ɪ̯z/ /sə(ː)ˈpɹɒ̈ɪ̯z/ /sə(r)ˈprajs/ /ˈsɜ(r)ˌprajs/

Word forms

surprise surprises surprize suprise surprising surprised

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.

Synonyms

more than one bargained for unexpected give one a start amazement awe bewilderment flabbergast flabbergastation flabbergastment shock stupefaction surprise astonishment overtake

Antonyms

expectancy expectation

Related words

quelle surprise surprising

Derived words

come as no surprise countersurprise element of surprise nonsurprise October surprise principle of least surprise quel surprise Surprise Bay surpriseful surpriseless surprise lily surprise party surprise surprise surprise test paradox take by surprise tomato surprise unsurprise resurprise surprisable surprisal surprisation surprisement surpriser

Translations

Afrikaans: afrikaans Albanian: surprizë Arabic: مُفَاجَأَة Arabic: دَهْشَة Armenian: անակնկալ Asturian: sorpresa Belarusian: сюрпры́з Belarusian: неспадзе́ўка Bulgarian: изнена́да Bulgarian: сюрпри́з Catalan: sorpresa Chinese Mandarin: 驚奇 /惊奇 Chinese Mandarin: 意外 Czech: překvapení Danish: overraskelse Danish: overraskelses- Dutch: verrassing Dutch: verrassings- Esperanto: surprizo Estonian: üllatus Finnish: yllätys Finnish: yllätys- French: surprise Galician: sorpresa Georgian: სიურპრიზი German: Überraschung German: Überraschungs- Greek: έκπληξη Greek: ξάφνιασμα Greek: αιφνίδιος Greek: ξαφνικός Hebrew: הַפְתָּעָה Hindi: आश्चर्य Hindi: विस्मय Hungarian: meglepetés Hungarian: meglepetésszerű Hungarian: váratlan Indonesian: kejutan Irish: ionadh Italian: sorpresa Japanese: 驚き Korean: 놀라움 Latin: inopīnātum Latvian: pārsteigums Lithuanian: staigmena Lithuanian: nuostaba Luxembourgish: Iwwerraschung Macedonian: изненадување Malay: kejutan Malay: mengejut Norwegian Bokmål: overraskelse Norwegian Bokmål: overrasknings- Norwegian Bokmål: overraskelses- Norwegian Nynorsk: overrasking Occitan: suspresa Iranian Persian: سورْپِرایْز Iranian Persian: سورْپْرایْز Iranian Persian: سورْپِریز Iranian Persian: سورْپْریز Plautdietsch: Äwarauschunk Polish: niespodzianka Polish: zaskoczenie Afrikaans: verras Arabic: بَاغَتَ Arabic: فَاجَأَ Arabic: دَهِشَ Armenian: զարմացնել Asturian: sorprender Azerbaijani: təəccübləndirmək Bangi: kamwisa Belarusian: дзіві́ць Belarusian: здзіўля́ць Belarusian: здзіві́ць Bulgarian: изнена́двам Bulgarian: изнена́дам Bulgarian: учу́двам Bulgarian: учу́дя Bulgarian: удивля́вам Bulgarian: удивя́ Bulgarian: сюрпризирам Catalan: sorprendre Chinese Mandarin: 使吃驚 /使吃惊 Czech: překvapovat Czech: překvapit Danish: overraske Dutch: verbazen Dutch: verrassen Dutch: verbijsteren Esperanto: surprizi Estonian: üllatama Finnish: yllättää Finnish: hämmästyttää French: surprendre French: étonner Galician: sorprender German: wundern überraschen Greek: εκπλήσσω Greek: ξαφνιάζω
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