SURPRISE in a Sentence

Learn SURPRISE from example sentences; some of them are from classic books. These examples are selected from a corpus with 300,000 sentences, including classic works and current mainstream media. Some sentences also link to their contexts.

328 example sentences for SURPRISE, such as:

1. To my surprise, the plan succeeded.
2. The surprise party was Jane's idea.
3. He gave a low long whistle of surprise.
4. Imagine our surprise on seeing her there.
5. I gasped with surprise at the unexpected news.

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 Meanings and Examples of SURPRISE
Definition Example Sentence Classic Sentence
surprise
 n.  a sudden unexpected event, fact, or thing
 v.  occur to with a sudden feeling
Classic Sentence: (210 in 15 pages)
1  My surprise reached a climax, however, when I found incidentally that he was ignorant of the Copernican Theory and of the composition of the Solar System.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART I: CHAPTER II. THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION
2  "You appear to be astonished," he said, smiling at my expression of surprise.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART I: CHAPTER II. THE SCIENCE OF DEDUCTION
3  "Commonplace," said Holmes, though I thought from his expression that he was pleased at my evident surprise and admiration.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART I: CHAPTER III. THE LAURISTON GARDEN MYSTERY
4  A look of surprise passed over the face of my companion as he listened to it.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART I: CHAPTER V. OUR ADVERTISEMENT BRINGS A VISITOR
5  Upon rising next morning he found, to his surprise, a small square of paper pinned on to the coverlet of his bed just over his chest.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART II: CHAPTER IV. A FLIGHT FOR LIFE
6  They had sat down to their breakfast when Lucy with a cry of surprise pointed upwards.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART II: CHAPTER IV. A FLIGHT FOR LIFE
7  Having, however, at last, satisfied himself as to his identity, the man's surprise changed to consternation.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART II: CHAPTER V. THE AVENGING ANGELS
8  "Well, really, it can hardly be described as otherwise," said Sherlock Holmes, smiling at my surprise.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context  Highlight   In PART II: CHAPTER VII. THE CONCLUSION
9  He fidgeted to and fro, swishing his long black tail against his sides and occasionally uttering a little whinny of surprise.
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Context  Highlight   In Chapter VII
10  Never had the farm--and with a kind of surprise they remembered that it was their own farm, every inch of it their own property--appeared to the animals so desirable a place.
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Context  Highlight   In Chapter VII
11  They were struck dumb with surprise when Napoleon announced that he had sold the pile of timber to Frederick.
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Context  Highlight   In Chapter VIII
12  That night there came from the farmhouse the sound of loud singing, in which, to everyone's surprise, the strains of 'Beasts of England' were mixed up.
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Context  Highlight   In Chapter VIII
13  They heard the doors of rooms above, opening and shutting as Sissy went from one to another in quest of her father; and presently they heard voices expressing surprise.
Hard Times By Charles Dickens
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 1: CHAPTER V
14  He looked at his informant for full a quarter of a minute, and appeared to have the surprise in his mind all the time.
Hard Times By Charles Dickens
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 2: CHAPTER I
15  Louisa faintly uttered some word of incredulity and surprise.
Hard Times By Charles Dickens
Context  Highlight   In BOOK 2: CHAPTER VII
Example Sentence: (118 in 8 pages)
16  That I exist is a perpetual surprise which is life.
17  The surprise party was Jane's idea.
18  Imagine our surprise on seeing her there.
19  It comes as no surprise to learn that they broke their promises.
20  He gave a low long whistle of surprise.
21  To my surprise, the plan succeeded.
22  Don't tell him about the present -- it's a surprise.
23  Tom got a surprise when he answered his teacher back.
24  The events of the past dovetail into those of the present, with parallels that surprise, astound, shock and delight.
25  I gasped with surprise at the unexpected news.
26  So it shouldn't be a surprise that county voter registrars received a list of 29,000 alleged felons to purge from the rolls.
27  The procession moved along the main avenue some three-quarters of a mile, and then groups and couples began to slip aside into branch avenues, fly along the dismal corridors, and take each other by surprise at points where the corridors joined again.
28  He sprung his secret, but the surprise it occasioned was largely counterfeit and not as clamorous and effusive as it might have been under happier circumstances.
29  He could not repress an ejaculation of surprise when he heard the news.
30  The penguins eat krill and small fish, and their main predator is the seal which can take them by surprise.