SURPRISED


Meaning of SURPRISED in English

sur ‧ prised S2 W2 /səˈpraɪzd $ sər-/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ surprised , ↑ surprising ≠ ↑ unsurprising ; verb : ↑ surprise ; noun : ↑ surprise ; adverb : ↑ surprisingly ≠ ↑ unsurprisingly ]

having 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.

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COLLOCATIONS

■ adverbs

▪ very/really surprised

I would be very surprised if that was the case.

▪ quite surprised

I was quite surprised at his reaction.

▪ a little/somewhat/slightly surprised

He 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.

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THESAURUS

▪ surprised having the feeling you get when something happens that you did not expect:

I was surprised to see her again so soon.

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I’m really surprised that he remembered my birthday.

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Nobody was surprised when they split up.

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a surprised expression

▪ amazed [not before noun] extremely surprised, especially by something good or by something that seems hard to believe:

I’m amazed that he survived.

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You’ll be amazed when you see the difference.

▪ astonished extremely surprised:

He was astonished by how much she had changed.

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an astonished look

▪ astounded extremely surprised or shocked. Astounded sounds a little more formal and a little stronger than astonished :

She 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.

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She just sat there looking flabbergasted.

▪ stunned so surprised that you do not know what to do or say:

I was too stunned to protest.

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Everyone seemed stunned by his outburst.

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They listened in stunned silence.

▪ speechless so surprised that you cannot speak:

I 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 react:

I was a little taken aback by her question.

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Sharpe was somewhat taken aback by the girl 's directness.

▪ nonplussed /nɒnˈplʌst $ nɑːn-/ formal surprised and a little confused:

She was nonplussed by such an odd question.

▪ gobsmacked [not before noun] British English informal extremely surprised – a very informal use:

I was absolutely gobsmacked when they told me I had passed.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.