- surprise
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 feeling of surpriseADJECTIVE▪ great, total, utter▪ mild, slight, some▪ initial▪
After the initial surprise I got to like the place.
▪ mock▪His eyebrows rose in mock surprise.
▪ genuine, realVERB + SURPRISE▪ express, register, show▪ feign▪He feigned surprise when I went up and said hello.
▪ hide▪She was quick to hide her surprise.
▪ cause▪The president's remarks caused surprise and embarrassment.
PREPOSITION▪ in surprise▪‘Walk twenty miles!’ repeated the old man in surprise.
▪ to sb's surprise▪Much to her surprise, she enjoyed the party.
▪ with surprise, without surprise▪It was with some surprise that I read of his resignation.
▪ surprise at▪She showed no surprise at the news.
PHRASES▪ an expression of surprise, a look of surprise▪I could not believe the look of surprise on his face.
▪ a gasp of surprise, a scream of surprise, a shriek of surprise▪ the element of surprise▪The Egyptian team relied on the element of surprise to defeat their stronger opponents.
▪ catch sb by surprise, take sb by surprise▪The storm took us completely by surprise.
▪ imagine my surprise when …▪Imagine my surprise when I found out he wasn't really a doctor.
▪ surprisesurprise (humorous)▪Bob turned up half an hour late, surprise surprise.
2 sth that you did not expectADJECTIVE▪ big, complete, genuine, great, huge, major, real, total▪ unexpected▪ lovely (esp. BrE), nice, pleasant, wonderful▪ nasty, unpleasant, unwelcome▪ little▪I have a little surprise for you!
VERB + SURPRISE▪ be, come as▪ get, have▪I had a wonderful surprise when I saw Mark there.
▪ give sb, spring▪Johnson sprung a surprise by winning the first round.
▪ be in for▪Your mother's in for a bit of a surprise when she gets home.
▪ ruin, spoilSURPRISE + NOUN▪ announcement, appearance, party, visit▪ hit, victory, win▪ defeat▪ attack▪They launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet.
▪ winner▪Roach was the surprise winner of the £10 000 first prize.
▪ guestPREPOSITION▪ surprise for▪It was a complete surprise for me.
▪ surprise to▪His refusal came as no surprise to his boss.
PHRASES▪ a bit of a surprise, quite a surprise▪ hold few, many, no, etc. surprises▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}She feels that the future holds few surprises.
verbADVERB▪ greatly, really▪ not at all▪The outcome did not surprise me at all.
▪ hardly▪ a little, slightlyVERB + SURPRISE▪ wouldn't▪It wouldn't surprise me if they got married.
▪ seem to▪ want to▪They wanted to surprise their mother and get the breakfast ready.
Surprise is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑moveSurprise is used with these nouns as the object: ↑observer
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
