How to Use surprise in a Sentence

surprise

1 of 2 noun
Definition of surprisenext
Synonyms for surprisenext
  • Is the party a surprise?
  • The teacher sprang a surprise on us and gave a pop quiz.
  • The trip was a surprise for her birthday.
  • It's no surprise that he doesn't want to go.
  • What a pleasant surprise to see you!
  • I have a special surprise for the children.
  • He stared at her in surprise.
  • Imagine our surprise when they sold their house and moved to the Bahamas.
  • Is it any surprise that she should feel disappointed?
  • To the surprise of many, the session was replete with specifics.
    — WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The end of My Photo Stream won’t come as too much of a surprise.
    — Jon Porter, The Verge, 30 May 2023
  • A week later, Ohtani brought the Dodgers his own surprise.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2023
  • Rolling Loud has yet to hint or reveal who the surprise act might be.
    — Kyle Denis, Billboard, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Then Willis, in a surprise move, strode into the courtroom and sat down in the witness box.
    — Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
  • The letter did not acknowledge the loss of life in the surprise attack that killed 1,200.
    — Elizabeth Dwoskin, Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2024
  • The film’s visual stylishness shouldn’t come as a surprise.
    — Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 14 Sep. 2023
  • One of the most lethal hazards in a winter landscape might come as a surprise: rain.
    — Max G. Levy, WIRED, 20 Dec. 2023
  • New Blue Sun is a surprise album in more ways than one: In place of beats, bars, and singing, the 87-minute record presents André the flautist.
    — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 14 Nov. 2023
  • The food lineup was much less predictable—and full of a few surprises.
    — Karla Walsh, Southern Living, 18 Dec. 2023
  • No surprise, then, that the return of the bugs would lead to high numbers of infections.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 23 Nov. 2023
  • The steamer made quick work of the silk blouse, while the cotton shirt and linen pants took slightly longer (no surprises here).
    — Sharon Brandwein, Southern Living, 6 Jan. 2024
  • That was the surprise awaiting a small group of editors in Milan last week.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 17 Jan. 2024
  • The findings likely won’t come as a surprise to cat owners.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
  • Miller arrived with a surprise guest — his 15-year-old daughter, Sarah.
    — Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2023
  • Here's one way to thank your fans: release a surprise, six-song EP just in time for Thanksgiving.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2023
  • Below, find all the surprise songs Swift has performed on the Eras Tour, updating live.
    — Ellise Shafer, Variety, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Customers’ eyes get big from the surprise taste after trying it on top of a fresh muffin.
    — Shauna Stuart | Sstuart@al.com, al, 8 June 2023
  • It's believed they were caught by surprise and swept away by a rushing wall of water, the release states.
    — Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 23 May 2023
  • Your list might be wildly different, which shouldn’t be a surprise given all the great Hank songs to pick from.
    — Matt Wake | Mwake@al.com, al, 15 Sep. 2023
  • But more than 24 hours on from this surprise attack, Israeli forces are still not fully in control on the ground.
    — Nbc Universal, NBC News, 8 Oct. 2023
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surprise

2 of 2 verb
  • The troops were surprised by an attack from the north.
  • The results will surprise you.
  • Nothing you could say would surprise me.
  • A police officer surprised the burglars.
  • They surprised everyone by moving to the Bahamas.
  • It’s been a long time since a piece surprised me the way this one did.
    — Longreads, 28 July 2023
  • How did the acting of it surprise you throughout the process?
    — Esther Zuckerman, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2023
  • The interview that has most surprised me was the singer Giveon.
    — Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2023
  • Aides were surprised by the announcement, The Times added.
    — Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024
  • Find a nice way to surprise them with an act of kindness.
    — Whitney Roberts, Parents, 15 Dec. 2023
  • Of course, that won’t surprise anyone who’s lived with a cat.
    — Jonathan Losos, Fortune Well, 5 Aug. 2023
  • As for the Coyotes on the ice ... Will the Coyotes continue to surprise?
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Reeves didn’t give up a home run, but that didn’t surprise Cunnea.
    — Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2023
  • Albeit surprised by the trend’s scale, Joshi, says there are many reasons why our brains think of the past.
    — Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 23 Sep. 2023
  • Simmons was intrigued by the idea, which surprised him.
    — Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023
  • And this might not surprise anyone, but 2023 is the year that audiobooks took over.
    — Boris Kachka, Los Angeles Times, 30 Dec. 2023
  • And while some of their advice might seem obvious, the rest might surprise you.
    — Maria Godoy, NPR, 6 Apr. 2024
  • Then parents can save them to surprise and delight their child in the future.
    — Maya Polton, Parents, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Last week, the country artist surprised Church Choir members by giving each one a deed to a brick at Chief's.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2024
  • Wolski surprised some by saying the premise of the question may be faulty.
    — Will Tizard, Variety, 20 Nov. 2023
  • What had surprised him, though, was how long the museum took to do something about the mural.
    — Alex Marshall, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
  • The companies were surprised by the block, saying the full extent of the CMA’s objections had not been made clear to them.
    — Reuters, Fortune Europe, 21 Nov. 2023
  • The robots are fun, but won’t surprise anyone who’s been to Disneyland in the last couple of decades.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 22 Nov. 2023
  • Omega, Zenith, Grand Seiko More and more, brands aren’t waiting for a big trade show to delight and surprise us with a new release.
    — Cait Bazemore, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024
  • The video was later played to the gathering at Bolt Farm, and then afterward, Brown and Woolard walked in to surprise their guests.
    — Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Lauren: What has surprised you most about what's been made using AI Grimes so far?
    — Gideon Lichfield, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2023
  • One idea is to surprise the other side, suddenly stand up and accept the deal.
    — Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Nothing could have surprised me more than how each of my children reacted on the first day of school.
    — Melissa Willets, Parents, 17 Aug. 2023
  • What’s the one thing that really surprised you about Stanford?
    — Michelle Wie West, Glamour, 26 Sep. 2023
  • In fact, Hamas itself might have been surprised by the extent of its initial success.
    — Natan Sachs, The Atlantic, 7 Oct. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'surprise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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