surprised adj.
VERBS appear, be, feel, look, seem, sound
ADV. extremely, greatly, most, really, terribly, very | hardly, not altogether, not at all, not entirely, not in the least, not particularly, not totally, scarcely Her father didn't seem at all surprised. | almost | a bit, faintly, a little, mildly, pretty, quite, rather, slightly, somewhat, vaguely She looked faintly surprised at my remark. | genuinely | clearly, evidently, obviously | secretly | constantly, continually I am constantly surprised by what my fourteen-month-old son understands. | momentarily | agreeably, pleasantly He was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was no longer afraid.
PREP. at He sounded surprised at this request. | by She appeared genuinely surprised by this gesture of affection.
surprise noun
1 feeling of surprise
ADJ. great, utter | mild, some | initial After the initial surprise I got to like the place. | mock His eyebrows rose in mock surprise.
QUANT. element The Egyptian team relied on the element of surprise to defeat their stronger opponents.
VERB + 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.
PREP. in ~ ‘Walk twenty miles!’ repeated the old man in surprise. | to your ~ Much to her surprise she enjoyed the party. | with/without ~ It was with some surprise that I read of his resignation. | ~ at She showed no surprise at the news.
PHRASES an expression/a look of surprise, a gasp/scream/shriek, etc. of surprise
2 sth that you did not expect
ADJ. big, complete, great, major, total | lovely, nice, pleasant, wonderful
VERB + SURPRISE come as | get, have I had a lovely surprise when I saw Mark there. | spring Johnson sprung a surprise by beating the favourite in the first round. | be in for Your mother's in for a bit of a surprise when she gets home. | catch sb by, take sb by The storm took us completely by surprise.
SURPRISE + NOUN announcement, attack, party, victory, visit
PREP. ~ for It was a complete surprise for me. | ~ to His refusal came as no surprise to his boss.
PHRASES a bit of a/quite a surprise
surprise verb
ADV. greatly, really | not at all The outcome did not surprise me at all. | hardly | a little, slightly
VERB + SURPRISE wouldn't It wouldn't surprise me if they announced they were going to get married. | seem to | want to They wanted to surprise their mother and get the breakfast ready.