Surprising
What it means
Unexpected in a pleasing or impressive way.
Reach for it when describing a pleasing or impressive result that was not reasonably expected
The small garden produced a surprising amount of food.
Words to choose between 6
| playful | |
|---|---|
| everyday |
|
| warm | |
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
Fits when new information changes someone's understanding
Careful An unexpected quantity or visual detail may surprise without teaching anything.
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warm
Fits when the result deserves attention regardless of whether it was predicted
Careful Familiar things can be remarkable, but they cannot surprise.
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professional
counterintuitive
Fits when a result runs against ordinary reasoning or expectation
Careful Counterintuitive is analytical and unsuitable for a charming personal surprise.
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professional
unexpected
Fits when the departure from prediction is the exact fact
Careful Unexpected is neutral; surprising adds positive interest here.
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formal
Fits when the scale of the surprise is extremely strong
Careful A small delightful discovery can be surprising without being astonishing.
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literary
startling
Fits when sudden surprise creates a sharp jolt
Careful Startling often suggests alarm and is too harsh for gentle good news.
Opposites 3
- expected
- predictable
- unsurprising
Common phrases 3
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surprising result
The smallest test group produced the most surprising result.
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not surprising
It was not surprising that the shaded seedlings retained more water.
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surprising amount
The balcony garden yielded a surprising amount of food.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: TreeMama, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated