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surprise

n. C / U
A2 Elementary Oxford US //səˈpɹaɪz// UK //səpɹˈaɪz// sur·prise General-service

n. an unexpected event or the feeling you have when something happens that you did not think would happen.

n. an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing; the emotion caused by something unforeseen.


SIMPLE

The party was a complete surprise to me.

CONTEXTUAL

She looked up in surprise when the door suddenly flew open and her brother walked in.

COMPLEX

To the surprise of the scientific community, the initial data suggested that the planet's atmosphere was far more dense than previous models had predicted.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

Usage

Often used as the object of the preposition 'in' to describe a person's reaction.

Pitfall

I have a surprise for you about the news.I have a surprise for you.While you can have a surprise 'for' someone, the news itself is the surprise; you do not usually have a surprise 'about' a topic.

Idioms2 entries

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