Synonyms for surprise
sərˈpraɪz, sə-sur·prise

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 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 AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.6 / 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 AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.3 / 12 votes

1. surprise

   Synonyms:
   startle, astonish, alarm, amaze, confuse

   Antonyms:
   prepare, premonish, forewarn

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.3 / 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

Matched Categories

1. • Act
   • Affect
   • Astonishment
   • Attack
   • Change

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:3.0 / 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 SynonymesRate these synonyms:3.5 / 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 WordsRate these synonyms:2.3 / 3 votes

1. surprisenoun

   Synonyms:
   amazement, astonishment

2. surpriseverb

   Synonyms:
   amaze, astonish, astound

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:1.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "surprise":

   surprised, astonishment, sudden, amazement, surprises, surprlse, -surprise, short-notice, amaze, unexpected, wonder, surprising, blitz, stuns

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?

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How to use surprise in a sentence?

1. Jared Harris:

   I remember really very clearly coming out of the theater afterwards and seeing this look of surprise on his face. I can still hear the first laugh I got in the play a couple of minutes into being on stage, i can hear this laugh, and all I thought was,' Yes !'.

2. Joe Brusuelas:

   Given how warm February was, there is a risk of another upside surprise in the jobs data like there was in January with the gain of 517,000, even as the Bureau of Labor Statistics tries to correct for the seasonal noise, even if there is a healthy downward revision to the January estimate, it will require another month at least for the noise in the data to be corrected and the true pace of hiring to be understood.

3. Matt Barreto:

   We are gaining every day with Latino voters. It is pre-election, so there are a lot of undecided voters. But that is not a surprise or a controversy, historically, those undecided voters are younger and more Democratic leaning and have voted for Democrats 2-to-1 in the past. ... We are on track and will continue to go after every single Latino vote.

4. Michael Salerno:

   It would not surprise me if the court took this off the ballot.

5. Pete Buttigieg:

   Theres something happening right now, that calls for something completely different than what weve been seeing.Generationally different, regionally different, somebody with a different life story and a different background, and to the surprise of many, includingmyself, this moment could be the only moment over the last 100 years or the next 100 years, when its appropriate for someone like me to be in this conversation.