surprising

[ ser-prahy-zing, suh- ]

adjective

1. causing surprise, wonder, or astonishment.
2. unexpected.

surprising

/ səˈpraɪzɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing surprise; unexpected or amazing

Derived Forms

• surˈprisingly, adverb
• surˈprisingness, noun

Other Words From

• sur·pris·ing·ly adverb
• un·sur·pris·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of surprising¹

First recorded in 1570–80; surprise + -ing ²

Example Sentences

This is especially striking, though hardly surprising, in the case of Priebus, Mr. Outreach.

From The Daily Beast

And yet as Robert Ward discovered, Marvin—for all of his larger-than-life machismo—was surprising in real life.

From The Daily Beast

She was not wearing hejab but more surprising that that, is married to an Englishman.

From The Daily Beast

This was very blunt and surprising to hear from any official in charge of an aviation disaster.

From The Daily Beast

That gross abuse should be among the products of such all-prior-bets-are-off decision making is hardly surprising.

From The Daily Beast

It is not surprising after this to learn that some children are slow in seizing the representative character of acting.

From Project Gutenberg

This is given in the next few pages, and it will be found to be easy of comprehension and interesting to a surprising degree.

From Project Gutenberg

The guests relished it greatly and Alila's father was praised very much for surprising them with this dainty.

From Project Gutenberg

And yet there still remains a superstitious belief in prayer, and most surprising are some of its manifestations.

From Project Gutenberg

Still, though he had committed great faults, he had shown a surprising ability in extricating himself from their consequences.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• amazing
• astonishing
• extraordinary
• remarkable
• shocking
• startling
• stunning
• sudden
• unanticipated
• unforeseen
• unpredictable
• wonderful