Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Exciting surprise; extraordinary; astonishing; of a nature to call out wonder or admiration: as, surprising bravery; a surprising escape.
  • Synonyms Strange, Curious, etc. See wonderful.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Exciting surprise; extraordinary; of a nature to excite wonder and astonishment

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of surprise.
  • noun The action of the verb to surprise.
  • adjective That is or are a surprise.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective causing surprise or wonder or amazement

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • The term "surprising" has lots of connotations, but...

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told reporters that U.S. and NATO forces are making what he called surprising progress in traditional Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan.

    Top US Military Officer Warns Violence Will Rise in Afghanistan 2011

  • The word "surprising," used to describe the size of that month's price jump, recurs with surprising frequency.

    'Dear Chancellor' 2011

  • CLANCY: It comes as NATO is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan after a top commander there said the Taliban is showing what he called a surprising level of resistance.

    CNN Transcript Sep 8, 2006 2006

  • He said the statement contained what he described as surprising information.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1998

  • The statement contained what he described as surprising facts.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1998

  • Dr. Gilbert attributed the frequency, which she called surprising, to the fact that the hospital served an "amazingly international cross section of women of color."

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • Dr. Gilbert attributed the frequency, which she called surprising, to the fact that the hospital served an "amazingly international cross section of women of color."

    Medlogs - Recent stories 2010

  • In what he called a surprising move, School Board member Julie Lucas announced her resignation.

    News for InsideNova.com 2009

  • LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher, in what he calls a surprising finding, says females were more intense about online games.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2009

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  • Isn't it strange that nobody had listed this word?

    May 26, 2007

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    June 26, 2011