Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

take by surprise

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.72 in modern English

Syllables: take by -sur-prise
IPA

25

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

3

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To occur to someone when unexpected; to surprise.

Example Sentences

"Kazakhstan's shooting team was taken by surprise when a spoof national anthem from the film Borat was used at a medal ceremony in Kuwait."
"Both the South Korean government and US forces in the region appear to have been taken by surprise by Trump’s declared suspension of joint exercises."
"No substitute bus services could be organised, and it is almost as though the train operator has been taken by surprise by the non-attendance of staff who appear to have made themselves unavailable - whether or not the diagram concerned was covered by overtime."

Inflected Forms

takes by surprise (present, singular) taking by surprise (participle, present) took by surprise (past) taken by surprise (participle, past)

Questions

What does take by surprise mean?: To occur to someone when unexpected; to surprise.

How to pronounce take by surprise

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “take by surprise”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “take by surprise”.
Repeat and practice — Say “take by surprise” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.