surprisal

[ ser-prahy-zuhl ]

noun

1. the act of surprising. surprise.
2. the state of being surprised.
3. a surprise.

Word History and Origins

Origin of surprisal¹

First recorded in 1585–95; surprise + -al ²

Example Sentences

They also used a computational technique to quantify each sentence's "surprisal," or how uncommon it is compared to other sentences.

From Science Daily

The outages were part of an apparent protest by users after the surprisal removal of a popular employee, Victoria Taylor, Reddit’s director of talent and a facilitator of the Ask Me Anything feature.

From Time

And, by reason of that sudden surprisal, we, knowing ourselves innocent of the crime, were all exceedingly astonished and amazed, and consternated and affrighted even out of our reason.

From Project Gutenberg

As Wilde left it, it was the latter part of a play in one act in blank verse, beginning with the surprisal of the lovers by the husband.

From Project Gutenberg

For their expedition to rob our gardens, they had brought their sovereign’s sole heir along with them, as they never leave any of the royal family behind them, for fear of a surprisal.

From Project Gutenberg