American English
/səpˈɹaɪz/
2 syllables · Stress the second syllable.
The feeling you have when something happens that you did not expect.
The usual American pronunciation is /sɚˈpraɪz/. Give more emphasis to the second part, “-prise.”
The feeling you have when something happens that you did not expect.
The result was a complete surprise.
She showed no surprise at the news.
a big surprise · express surprise · show surprise · to someone's surprise
a surprise for someone
surprise at something
Something unexpected, often planned secretly to make another person happy.
We planned a surprise for Dad.
Her friends gave her a birthday surprise.
surprise party · birthday surprise · pleasant surprise
give someone a surprise
a surprise for someone
To make someone feel that something is different from what they expected.
The low price surprised me.
He surprised us by arriving early.
Use surprised for a person and surprising for the thing that causes the feeling.
surprise someone · completely surprise someone · pleasantly surprise someone
surprise someone with something
surprise someone by doing something
To meet, find, or attack someone when they are not ready or do not expect you.
I surprised him at home.
The guards surprised the thieves while they were sleeping.
surprise the enemy · catch someone by surprise
surprise someone at + place
surprise someone while + -ing
in a way that someone did not expect
To my surprise, the store was still open.
be unexpected
The news came as a surprise to everyone.
make someone unprepared because they did not expect something
The sudden storm caught us by surprise.