by surprise
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What caught him by surprise was the conversation around fat-phobia that accompanied the film’s release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
"The gravity hit me of what it meant to people and it took me by surprise," he reflects.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Otherwise, it is likely to catch you by surprise or when your forces are depleted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Strategists at Panmure Liberum led by Joachim Klement acknowledge the long-term danger posed by “excessive deficits and rising debt mountains,” but there are contingencies that might take bond markets by surprise in the next year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Horses permitted people possessing them to cover far greater distances than was possible on foot, to attack by surprise, and to flee before a superior defending force could be gathered.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
