n. The act of coming upon anything unawares, or of taking it suddenly and without warning or preparation: as, the fort was taken by surprise.n. The state of being seized with astonishment; an emotion excited by something happening suddenly and unexpectedly; astonishment; amazement.n. Anything which causes the feeling of surprise, as an unexpected event or a novel and striking thought.n. A dish covered with a crust of raised paste, but with no other contents, or with contents of unexpected quality or variety.n. Same as back-scratcher, 2.n. Synonyms See surprise, v., and surprising.To come upon unexpectedly; fall upon or assail suddenly and without warning; take or capture one who is off his guard, by an unexpected movement.To seize suddenly; capture.To disconcert; confuse; confound.To strike with sudden astonishment, as by something unexpected or remarkable either in conduct or in speech, or by the appearance of something unusual: often used in a weakened sense.To lead or bring unawares; betray; lead (a person) to do or say something without previous intention: with into: as, to be surprised into making a confession or an explanation.To hold possession of; hold.Synonyms Surprise, Astonish, Amaze, Astound, startle. The italicized words are in the order of strength. They express the effect upon the mind of that which is unexpected and perhaps sudden. To surprise is, literally, to take unawares or suddenly, to affect with wonder: as, I am surprised to find you here. Astonish applies especially to that which is great or striking. Amaze, literally, to put into a maze, is used to express perturbation or bewilderment in one's surprise, and naturally therefore belongs to that which closely concerns one's self or is incomprehensible. To astound is to overwhelm with surprise, to make dumb, helpless, or unable to think. We are surprised at a thing because we did not expect it, astonished because of its remarkableness in some respect, amazed because we cannot understand how it came to pass, astounded so that we do not know what to think or do.