surprise
sur·prise/sə(ː)ˈpɹaɪ̯z/noun, verb, interjection
surprise is spelled S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E, 2 syllables: sur·prise. The wrong spelling people search most is suprise: about 1,570 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Surprise is a noun meaning “Something unexpected”. The plural of surprise is surprises.
How many letters and syllables are in surprise?
| Letters | 8: S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sur·prise |
| In writing | 56 times per million words; the 1,822nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, suprise, about 1,570 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell surprise?
Surprise is spelled S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for surprise in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is surprise?
Surprise appears 56 times per million words in written English, the 1,822nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce surprise?
- UK /sə(ː)ˈpɹaɪ̯z/
- /sɚˈpɹaɪ̯z/
- /səˈpɹaɪ̯z/
Surprise has 2 syllables, split sur·prise in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-surprise.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of surprise
- surprises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- surprising participle, present
- surprised participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does surprise mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something unexpected.
It was a surprise to find out I owed twice as much as I thought.
- 2
A mess of feces, left by a pet or small child in an unexpected place or at an unexpected time.
After the housecleaners drove off, the cat left a surprise for us on the carpet.
- 3
The feeling that something unexpected has happened.
Imagine my surprise on learning I owed twice as much as I thought I did.
verb
- 1
To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted by something unexpected.
It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.
- 2
To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise.
He doesn’t know that I’m in the country – I thought I’d turn up at his house and surprise him.
- 3
To undergo or witness something unexpected.
He doesn’t surprise easily.
- 4
To cause surprise.
- 5
To attack unexpectedly.
- 6
To take unawares.
I surprised a raccoon scavenging through the garbage last night.
interjection
- 1
Drawing attention to a surprising action by oneself.
"Surprise!" we shouted as we jumped out from the cupboard. "Happy birthday!"
- 2
Drawing attention to something that should have been obvious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Surprise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surprise , surprendre, étonner , faire une surprise à |
| German | Überraschung , wundern überraschen , überraschen , Überraschungs- |
| Portuguese | surpresa , surpreender |
| Spanish | sorpresa , sorprender |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does surprise come from?
From Middle English surprise, borrowed from Middle French surprise (“an overtake”), nominal use of the past participle of Old French sorprendre (“to overtake”), from sor- (“over”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin super- + Latin prendere, contracted from prehendere (“to grasp, seize”). Doublet of suppli.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).