n. 1
Something unexpected.
Surprise! - A party! Awesome!
v. 1
To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted by something unexpected.
It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.

Related words

Word family: surprising surprisal surprisement
Phrases: surprise lily take by surprise

Forms

Plural: surprises → astonishments, shocks, amazements, wonders…
Past participle: surpris'd
e.g. surpris'd → astonished, amazed, startled, astounded…

Choose the right word

Surprise, Astonishment or Amazement?

Surprise lies midway between astonishment and amazement, and usually respects matters of lighter consequence or such as are less startling in character. We can say pleased surprise, but scarcely pleased astonishment.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

wonder Reading will guide us to the rich world of wonder.
shock I expect him to get over the shock of his failure.
amazement Daniel looked at the list and froze in amazement.
astonishment Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.
unexpected The truth can often be found in unexpected places.
bombshell At the end of the movie, a bombshell was dropped.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
surprise		rising
wonder		rising
shock		steady
amazement		rising
astonishment		rising
unexpected		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: awe¹
4 letters: lulu², coax¹
5 letters: storm¹, shock¹, alarm², amaze²
6 letters: wonder², strike¹, marvel², dazzle²
7 letters: stagger², startle², astound²
8 letters: overtake³, confound², astonish³
9 letters: bombshell², amazement³, surprisal
10 letters: unexpected⁴, admiration⁴, astonisher
11 letters: flabbergast³
12 letters: astonishment⁴, bewilderment⁴, stupefaction

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (lulu² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: surprise
Italiano: sorpresa
Español: sorpresa
Català: sorpresa