Word family noun surprise adjective surprised surprising ≠ unsurprising verb surprise adverb surprisingly ≠ unsurprisingly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsurprisedsur‧prised /səˈpraɪzd $ sər-/ ●●● S2 W2 adjective SURPRISEDhaving a feeling of surprise He looked surprised to see Cassie standing by the front door.surprised at/by We were greatly surprised at the news.surprised (that) She was surprised that no one was there to greet her.surprised to see/hear/learn etc I bet she’ll be really surprised to see me. He had a surprised look on his face. Don’t be surprised if the interviewer is rather direct. I wouldn’t be surprised if she married that fellow.COLLOCATIONSadverbsvery/really surprisedI would be very surprised if that was the case.quite surprisedI was quite surprised at his reaction.a little/somewhat/slightly surprisedHe was a little surprised by her request.mildly surprised (=slightly surprised)He looked mildly surprised by the question.pleasantly surprised (=when someone has a pleasant surprise)You will probably be pleasantly surprised at the amount of food you are allowed to eat on this diet.genuinely surprised‘Me?’ Theodora seemed genuinely surprised. THESAURUSsurprised having the feeling you get when something happens that you did not expectI was surprised to see her again so soon.I’m really surprised that he remembered my birthday.Nobody was surprised when they split up.a surprised expressionamazed [not before noun] extremely surprised, especially by something good or by something that seems hard to believeI’m amazed that he survived.You’ll be amazed when you see the difference.astonished extremely surprisedHe was astonished by how much she had changed.an astonished lookastounded extremely surprised or shocked. Astounded sounds a little more formal and a little stronger than astonishedShe was astounded by how much it cost.staggered/flabbergasted/dumbfounded [not before noun] extremely surprised or shocked‘What?’ I said, utterly staggered by his answer.She just sat there looking flabbergasted.stunned so surprised that you do not know what to do or sayI was too stunned to protest.Everyone seemed stunned by his outburst.They listened in stunned silence.speechless so surprised that you cannot speakI was speechless when I heard that I’d won.taken aback [not before noun] surprised by what someone says or does, so that you are not sure how to reactI was a little taken aback by her question.Sharpe was somewhat taken aback by the girl 's directness.nonplussed /nɒnˈplʌst $ nɑːn-/ formal surprised and a little confusedShe was nonplussed by such an odd question.gobsmacked [not before noun] British English informal extremely surprised – a very informal useI was absolutely gobsmacked when they told me I had passed. Examples from the Corpus
surprised• The two children were very surprised.• His exam results were great - we were all very pleasantly surprised.• Supermarkets may be as surprised as anyone to find themselves selling no more than 25 percent of national production by 1997.• I was surprised as I knew Len usually drove his own car to work.• When I saw him again, I was surprised at how much older he looked.• Julia seemed a little surprised by my question.• We couldn't help laughing at the children's surprised faces.• Carrie looked surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here!"• The player was surprised over his dismissal.• She was surprised that Colonel Scott Wilson wore a dinner jacket.• I'm really surprised that he remembered my birthday.• I am surprised that you should publish an article on the Tay floods with a meaningless figure.• Now that he came to think of it, Edward was surprised this point had never cropped up before.• Erika was surprised to find that she was beginning to like Bach.• We were surprised to see Drew's picture in the newspaper.• I was really surprised when I passed my driving test first time.• I was so surprised when I saw you walk in!I wouldn’t be surprised• "Do you think they'll get married?" "I wouldn't be surprised."• You know, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the top executives lose their jobs.• You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to get married.• I wouldn't be surprised to hear that she'd left that job by now. 