surprise
/sə(ː)ˈpɹɑ̟ɪ̯z/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.75 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought."
- "It came as a surprise when he succeed."
- "England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco."
- "They had begun brightly but the opening goal was such a blow to their confidence it almost came as a surprise when Walcott, running through the inside-right channel, beat the offside trap and, checking back on to his left foot, turned a low shot beyond Allan McGregor in the Scotland goal."
- "Surprise! - A party! Awesome!"
- "She bought the model as a surprise gift for a friend who is a lifelong HST fan and railwayman, and who will soon be celebrating a milestone birthday."
Etymology
From Middle English surprise, borrowed from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre (“to overtake”), from sor- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin super- + Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”). Doublet of suppli.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /sə(ː)ˈpɹɑ̟ɪ̯z/
- British English: /sə(ː)ˈpɹaɪ̯z/