surprise
verb (used with object)
to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness.
have been surprising
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present perfect progressiveof surprise.present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Definitely, when you step out actually for three races and you come back, you actually notice a bigger difference. And the last two weekends have been surprising."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Touvier said it may have been surprising that the natural food color additives yielded similar risks as synthetic ones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
It would not have been surprising if it had followed “Streets of Minneapolis” when he recently performed it at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2026
If you asked Los Alamitos basketball coach Nate Berger to be honest about early expectations for a team that returned zero starters, he would have said a 1-9 start wouldn’t have been surprising.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
Guenever, and this might have been surprising to a person who had known her in her days of tempest looked sweet and pretty.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
