What does SURPRISE mean?
Definitions for SURPRISE
sərˈpraɪz, sə-sur·prise
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage 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.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Surprisal, Surprisenoun
Etymology: surprise, French; from the verb.
Parents should mark heedfully the witty excuses of their children, especially at suddains and surprisals; but rather mark than pamper them Henry Wotton.
This let him know,
Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend
Suprisal, unadmonish’d, unforewarn’d. John Milton, Par. Lost.I set aside the taking of St. Jago and St. Domingo in Hispaniola, as surprizes rather than encounters. Francis Bacon.
This strange surprisal put the knight
And wrathful squire into a fright. Hudibras.There is a vast difference between them, as vast as between inadvertency and deliberation, between surprize and set purpose. South.
Few care for carving trifles in disguise,
Or that fantastick dish some call surprise. William King, Cookery.To SURPRISEverb
Etymology: surpris, French, from surprendre.
The castle of Macduff I will surprise,
Seize upon Fife, give to the edge o’th’sword
His wife, his babes. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.Now do our ears before our eyes,
Like men in mists,
Discover who’d the state surprize,
And who resists. Ben Jonson.Bid her well beware,
Lest, by some fair appearing good surpris’d,
She dictate false, and misinform the will. John Milton.How shall he keep, what, sleeping or awake,
A weaker may surprise, a stronger take? Alexander Pope.Who can speak
The mingled passions that surpriz’d his heart! James Thomson.People were not so much frighted as surprized at the bigness of the camel. Roger L'Estrange.
Up he starts, discover’d and surpris’d. John Milton.
ChatGPT
surprise
Surprise is a sudden unexpected event, fact, or thing that causes a strong emotional response, such as shock, disbelief, excitement or awe. It is an abrupt or startling change from an anticipated outcome or situation, often leading to a brief moment of disorientation or confusion. Surprise can also refer to the feeling experienced upon discovery of something new or unknown.
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.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
SURPRISE
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Surprise is ranked #43006 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Surprise surname appeared 503 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Surprise.
85.2% or 429 total occurrences were White.
8.5% or 43 total occurrences were Black.
3.5% or 18 total occurrences were of two or more races.
1.5% or 8 total occurrences were Asian.
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
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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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
This filing isn't a surprise. It's yet another effort by Purdue to avoid accountability and shield the Sackler family fortune.
Because of this, the project team included a paleontologist who would monitor excavations and document and preserve anything we found, what we were not expecting was this many fossils, of this variety. That was a complete surprise.
Systematic surveillance needs to be done to determine the prevalence of Zika and at the moment we might be underestimating the number of cases, the scientific community may have been caught by surprise by this outbreak. We are catching up on learning about this.
It was not exactly a surprise, as we know bigotry of this kind persists, so much as exasperation that it would prove such a waste of state resources.
I am using past history … and probabilities here and there – sometimes it’s called an educated guess, i think it’s going to work out real well because what we need is some kind of consistency with occasional surprise – you need to know when to throw in the unusual.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
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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