What is another word for surprise?

Synonyms for surprise
sərˈpraɪz, sə-sur·prise

This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word surprise.

Wiktionary4.0 / 2 votes

  1. surprisenoun

    To undergo or witness something unexpected.

    He doesn't surprise easily.

    Synonyms:
    astonishment

  2. surpriseverb

    To cause surprise.

    Synonyms:
    unexpected

English Synonyms and Antonyms4.6 / 5 votes

  1. surprise

    Amazement and astonishment both express the momentary overwhelming of the mind by that which is beyond expectation. Astonishment especially affects the emotions, amazement the intellect. Awe is the yielding of the mind to something supremely grand in character or formidable in power, and ranges from apprehension or dread to reverent worship. Admiration includes delight and regard. Surprise lies midway between astonishment and amazement, and usually respects matters of lighter consequence or such as are less startling in character. Amazement may be either pleasing or painful, as when induced by the grandeur of the mountains, or by the fury of the storm. We can say pleased surprise, but scarcely pleased astonishment. Amazement has in it something of confusion or bewilderment; but confusion and bewilderment may occur without amazement, as when a multitude of details require instant attention. Astonishment may be without bewilderment or confusion. Wonder is often pleasing, and may be continuous in view of that which surpasses our comprehension; as, the magnitude, order, and beauty of the heavens fill us with increasing wonder. Compare PERPLEXITY.

    Synonyms:
    admiration, amazement, astonishment, awe, bewilderment, confusion, perplexity, wonder

    Antonyms:
    anticipation, calmness, composure, coolness, expectation, indifference, preparation, self-possession, steadiness, stoicism

    Preposition:
    I was filled with amazement at such reckless daring.

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms3.3 / 12 votes

  1. surprise

    Synonyms:
    startle, astonish, alarm, amaze, confuse

    Antonyms:
    prepare, premonish, forewarn

Princeton's WordNet2.3 / 4 votes

  1. surprisenoun

    the astonishment you feel when something totally unexpected happens to you

    Synonyms:
    surprisal

  2. surprisenoun

    a sudden unexpected event

    Synonyms:
    surprisal

  3. surprise, surprisalverb

    the act of surprising someone

    Synonyms:
    surprisal

  4. surpriseverb

    cause to be surprised

    "The news really surprised me"

    Synonyms:
    storm

  5. surpriseverb

    come upon or take unawares

    "She surprised the couple"; "He surprised an interesting scene"

    Synonyms:
    storm

  6. storm, surpriseverb

    attack by storm; attack suddenly

    Synonyms:
    rage, force, ramp, storm

Editors Contribution3.0 / 1 vote

  1. lawks

    Submitted by anonymous on December 20, 2020  
  2. unexpected gift

    an unexpected gift

    the surprise was a brand new phone

    Submitted by allisonmariegraham27 on April 9, 2019  

Dictionary of English Synonymes3.5 / 2 votes

  1. surprisenoun

    Synonyms:
    wonder, astonishment, amazement, admiration

  2. surpriseverb

    Synonyms:
    take unawares, take by surprise, take off one's guard

  3. surpriseverb

    Synonyms:
    astonish, amaze, startle, strike with wonder, take aback

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words2.3 / 3 votes

  1. surprisenoun

    Synonyms:
    amazement, astonishment

  2. surpriseverb

    Synonyms:
    amaze, astonish, astound

Suggested Resources

  1. surprise

    The surprise symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the surprise symbol and its characteristic.

How to pronounce surprise?

How to say surprise in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#1022force
#3339wonder
#3413storm
#4148alarm
#4651surprise
#6106surprised
#7453confusion
#8034sudden
#8101unexpected
#8658rage
#9457surprising
#10970ramp
#15446blitz
#15637surprises
#16386awe
#20060confuse
#23032admiration
#30103amaze
#34316amazement
#41108astonishment
#68351startle
#74750bewilderment
#75891stuns
#77127perplexity
#78538astonish

How to use surprise in a sentence?

  1. Nora Bensahel:

    The fact that the Taliban were able to gain control of Kunduz was a strategic surprise.

  2. Tim Osborne:

    We will appeal this surprise decision by The Hague Court and have full faith that the rule of law and justice will ultimately prevail.

  3. Tom Barrett:

    It’s no surprise the Cheney family is joining her, and it exposes the permanent Washington establishment's War-First, America-Last agenda. Slotkin can keep Cheney while I work to keep America out of senseless wars.

  4. Morgan Ortagus:

    But the one thing that confounds me is the lack of planning, the lack of execution by this administration in withdrawing these forces, general Jack Keane has talked about why did we do this during the height of fighting season, why do seemingly have no plan in place for tens of thousands of people, tens of thousands, who helped us over the last 20 years. I also hear reports we have duel citizens -- dual citizens, American citizens who are potentially still there. It looks chaotic, it looks mismanaged, and the things that’s concerning to me is that this administration looks caught by surprise.

  5. Don Lemon:

    When you say I’m going to have a press conference, I’m inviting the media to do this, I’m going to actually go into the press room with Jen Psaki and I'm going to show up there sometimes and surprise people and guess what? I’m going to pull the nation in with my narrative, i’m going to tell them what is in the bill. I’m going to tell them what I’m selling that is going to help them … I’m not just going to sit back and expect the news media to do it for me because it’s not our job to sell the narrative … It’s not our job to sell your agenda for you.


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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Translation

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"surprise." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/surprise>.

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    A synonym for scanty
    A Spurious
    B Inaugurate
    C Gumption
    D Dearth

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