I was recently surprised to learn that surprised is a nemesis for many writers. It appears with a surprising frequency in surprisingly many WIPs. No worries The Surprise EMTs are en route. Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations Rather than say characters are surprised, you could show their emotional state with beats like the following. blinking breathless voice clutching one’s chest with one or both hands covering one’s ears with hands feeble voice gaping jaw hiding one’s face with hands or hair legs that tremble pressing a hand against one’s chest, with fingers splayed wide pressing fingers against one’s gaping mouth quick flash of a frown on one’s face quickly elevating one’s eyebrows and accompanying them with protuberant “flashbulb” eyes raised and curved brows raising one’s chin raising one’s eyebrows shaky voice sudden audible inhalation through one’s mouth touching one’s face or lips with fingers widening one’s eyes so much that the whites show wrinkles across the forehead To find more examples, search Google Images for body language surprised, or consult a body language dictionary. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Dialogue Can you see the surprise in the paragraphs below? “I swear, Marvin’s jaw dropped two feet when he heard Lucy was coming back to town.” “When I came around the corner and spotted the cougar, I thought I was hallucinating. A cougar in LA?” “Who could have known that a brand new tire would blow up the first time I took the car out? Wow! That’s all I can say. Wow.” “You gotta be kidding. How do you expect me to cram all these suitcases into the trunk?” “Ow! That’s hot.” “Why are you calling me at 2 “Mother! Is that your luggage? I thought you were overseas.” Texts When people are surprised, they tend to use shortcuts in texts — avoiding numbers, symbols, and punctuation. Here are a few that might suit your WIP. AYS are you serious? FAB fabulous FCOL for crying out loud HFAC holy flipping animal crackers IDBI I don’t believe it LTNS long time no see OB oh brother OMG omigosh OMGYGTBK omigosh you got to be kidding SMHID scratching my head in disbelief SU shut up [an expression of incredulity] TGTBT too good to be true TMTH too much to handle UGTBK you’ve got to be kidding WWNC will wonders never cease YGTBKM you’ve got to be kidding me YWHOL yelling woo hoo out loud Social Media The internet is swarming with an ever-changing glut of social media outlets, all with their own lingo and abbreviations. Learn the vernacular if you introduce one of these sites to your narrative — or invent a new social network. Who knows, your creativity could catch the notice of a tech guru and result in the launch of yet another way for people to spend their time. Good? Bad? Depends on your point of view. Adjectives and Adjectival Phrases Consider intensity of emotion when replacing surprised. An awestruck character feels more intensely than one who is startled. A to G agape, aghast, agog, amazed, astonished, astounded, awed, awestruck, blown away, boggled, bowled over, bug-eyed, confounded, dazed, dumbfounded, filled with awe, filled with wonder, flabbergasted, floored, gobsmacked H to W horror-struck, incredulous, jolted, openmouthed, overcome, overwhelmed, shaken, shell-shocked, shocked, speechless, staggered, startled, stunned, stupefied, taken aback, thunderstruck, unnerved, wide-eyed, wonderstruck, wordless Similes and Metaphors A character’s state of surprise could be compared to, contrasted with, or portrayed as [amazing, rare, uncommon] as an honest politician dazed as a frog about to be swallowed by a snake like a bat blinded by the sun like a deer mesmerized by headlights like a kid who receives a computer instead of a baseball mitt as a birthday present like a shark chomping on a leg and discovering it’s covered by chainmail like an infant’s first glimpse of the world outside its mother’s body like the taste of coffee when one expects tea unexpected as a rare steak when a character orders it well-done unexpected as snow in [a summer month] unusual as [booze at an AA meeting, rain in the Sahara Desert] – The Versatility of Verbs and Phrasal Verbs In your determination to decrease overuse of surprised, you might decide to rely on one of the following, many of which are cliché or idiomatic. Although trite phrases function well in certain types of dialogue, avoid them in serious narrative. appear [all of a sudden, out of left field, out of nowhere] blindside someone blow someone away blow someone’s mind bowl someone over burst in on someone bushwhack someone catch someone [in the act, napping, off balance, off guard, red-handed, unawares] cause someone to [be speechless, do a double-take, jump out of their skin, root to the spot] drop a bombshell on someone fill someone with [awe, wonder] knock someone [for six, down/over with a feather] knock someone’s socks off knock the stuffing out of someone leave someone [aghast, open-mouthed] make someone’s jaw drop raise someone’s eyebrows render someone speechless set someone back on their heels shake someone up stop someone dead in their tracks strike someone [dumb, with amazement, with awe, with wonder] take someone [aback, unawares] take someone’s breath away throw someone [a curveball, for a loop] More Verbs and Phrasal Verbs Instead of surprise as a verb, try one of the following. A to W alarm, amaze, astonish, astound, awe, bedazzle, benumb, bewilder, cause [amazement, astonishment, incredulity, shock], confound, daze, dazzle, disturb, dumbfound, electrify, flabbergast, floor, gobsmack, jar, jolt, nonplus, rock, scandalize, shake up, shell-shock, shock, stagger, startle, stun, stupefy, wow Nouns Instead of relying on the noun surprise to refer to a character’s emotional state, you could substitute one of the following words or phrases. Pay attention to connotation and degree of emotion. For example, a hiccup implies different circumstances than a kick in the face. A to M amazement, astonishment, awe, bewilderment, body blow, bolt from/out of the blue, bombshell, conversation stopper, curveball, doozy, epiphany, eureka moment, eye-opener, a first, glitch, hiccup, incomprehension, incredulity, jaw dropper, jolt, kick [in the face, up the backside], kicker, manna from heaven, marvel, miracle O to Z one for the books, puzzlement, revelation, rude awakening, setback, shock, shocker, source of amazement, spectacle, stunner, stupefaction, thunderbolt, twist, unexpected revelation, unforeseen event, whammy, wonder, wonderment, wrinkle, zinger Props Well-chosen props augment a story by sparking new twists or subplots. Would one of the following suit your narrative? DNA results that show a character is related to _____ an empty box of chocolates a failing grade on an essay or exam firecrackers a flat tire flowers from an anonymous admirer a free upgrade to first-class on an overseas flight a “gunshot” that turns out to be [an exploding baked potato, lightning, a vehicle collision] a horse that shies at _____ a “male” dog that has a litter of puppies a nest of fire ants a one-star review on a book a parking ticket a pearl in an oyster someone is eating a phone call from an ex who hasn’t called the character in years a porch pirate who turns out to be [the character’s ex, a homeless person, a raccoon, a raven, a relative] a robbery where only [something cheap and/or insignificant] is stolen a slip and fall on the ice a speeding ticket a two-headed chicken the turndown of a marriage proposal Are You Interested in More Word Lists and Writing Tips? If you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to my blog. 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How to use surprising in a sentenceYou can use it to come up with powerful, popular keywords to boost traffic in surprising and positive surprising as any of them is the story of just how WD-40 came to be, and how it became a staple in garages across even less surprising in the case of Audi’s new e-tron sedan, which draws heavily on tech and designs from the speedy Porsche it’s not surprising that humans are encountering these animals within city limits more and how many different silos exist organizationally at agencies, it isn’t surprising that synthesizing all of the data that exists and reporting on it is hugely is especially striking, though hardly surprising, in the case of Priebus, Mr. yet as Robert Ward discovered, Marvin—for all of his larger-than-life machismo—was surprising in real was not wearing hejab but more surprising that that, is married to an was very blunt and surprising to hear from any official in charge of an aviation gross abuse should be among the products of such all-prior-bets-are-off decision making is hardly is not surprising after this to learn that some children are slow in seizing the representative character of is given in the next few pages, and it will be found to be easy of comprehension and interesting to a surprising guests relished it greatly and Alila's father was praised very much for surprising them with this yet there still remains a superstitious belief in prayer, and most surprising are some of its though he had committed great faults, he had shown a surprising ability in extricating himself from their Dictionary definitions for surprisingadjectivecausing surprise; unexpected or amazingDerived forms of surprisingsurprisingly, adverbsurprisingness, nounCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

/sərˈpraɪzɪŋ/ /səˈpraɪzɪŋ/ Surprising things are completely unexpected—they astonish or startle you. It would be surprising for most of us to get a phone call from the Queen of England. Unless you suspected your friend was planning something, the surprise party she throws for your birthday will be surprising. Things that are surprising take you aback or even confuse you a little bit. The adjective surprising comes from surprise, via the Old French sorprendre, "to overtake or seize." The original meaning of surprise party was a stealth military action. Definitions of surprising adjective causing surprise or wonder or amazement “the report shows a surprising lack of hard factual data” “leaped up with surprising agility” “she earned a surprising amount of money” Synonyms unexpected not expected or anticipated amazing, astonishing surprising greatly startling so remarkably different or sudden as to cause momentary shock or alarm stunning causing great astonishment and consternation Pronunciation /sərˈpraɪzɪŋ/ /səˈpraɪzɪŋ/ DISCLAIMER These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word surprising'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of or its editors. Send us feedback EDITOR'S CHOICE Look up surprising for the last time Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know. Sign up now it’s free! Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement. Get started

Sheeshis an expression used to show disbelief or exasperation. It usually means the former on TikTok. But it’s basically used to hype people up. Unlike Kermit’s incensed and irked “sheesh” this one is a bit goofier. It’s a long drawn out “sheeeeeeesh” with much emphasis on the vowels. Most of the “sheesh” memes include audio

Knowing how to express excitement is extremely important whatever the language you’re learning. In this post, I’ll share with you 8 different ways the native often use to express surprise in English when hearing surprising news. How to express surprise in English Disbelief Really? We can use Really as a short response when we show interest or surprise Example I don’t like chocolate. – Really? Jack proposed me. – Oh really? When? Are you serious? and Are you for real? A fashionable way of expressing surprise and disbelief in English is to say “Are you serious?” or “Are you for real?”. Serious means to act or speak sincerely and in earnest, rather than in a joking manner. For real is used to show that something is real, genuine, or serious. Although both of these expressions carry question marks, they don’t require answers. Example I got an A+ on my Math exam! – Dude, are you for real? Read more Simplest Ways To Express Anger In English You gotta be kidding me! A similar phrase that’s increasingly used in spoken English for expressing disbelief is “You gotta be kidding me!” The expression is commonly used to indicate you’re seriously doubting what the person is saying, or just to express your surprise or astonishment. “Gotta” is a contraction of have got to”, meaning “have to” or “must”. “You gotta be kidding me!” = “You must be kidding me!” “have got to” is mostly used in American Spoken English. Example I’m going to travel around America this summer. – You gotta be kidding me! It’s awesome! No way! A common phrase used when hearing big news is “No Way !”. As you can tell, you’re basically refusing to believe what you hear because it’s so incredible. Note In addition to expressing surprise, “No way” is also used to tell someone that something is impossible There is no way that could be possible. You can also say “no way” as an emphatic way of saying no. Example Can I borrow your car? – No way! I’m sorry but there is no way we can help you. Don’t forget to take notice of the speaker’s attitude and conversation context. Otherwise, you can easily get confused by this phrase. Now, let’s look at 2 videos below. As you see, in the first video, the speaker uses “No way!” to express their astonishment. Meanwhile, the phrase “no way” in the other video is used as an answer to the question, meaning “never”, “certainly not”. How to express surprise in English Excitement Echo Question An echo question is a type of direct question that repeats part or all of something which someone else has just said. It is also called a parrot question or a “repeat, please” question. We use echo questions to express interest, concern, surprise, anger, or other reactions, depending on the intonation. Example He ran out of money. – Did he? I haven’t booked my flight yet. – Haven’t you? Note Intonation Echo questions are usually spoken with a rising intonation James really likes my dog. – Does he? You should go to the dentist. – Should I? I can’t ride a motorbike. – Can’t you? They wouldn’t be able to come. – They wouldn’t? What a surprise! Slightly more formal and versatile is the expression “What a surprise!!”. This phrase belongs to standard English and is used in formal and written English as well. We can use “What”, “How” in exclamatory sentences. “What” WHAT + a/ an + adj + countable noun What a wonderful day! What a nice song you wrote! WHAT + adj + plural countable noun What colorful flowers! WHAT + adj + uncountable noun What beautiful weather! “How” HOW + adjective/ adverb + Subject + Verb! How amazing you are! How well she dances! You don’t say! Another common phrase used to show excitement in English is “You don’t say!”. “You don’t say” = “Really?” Example Anna is getting married! – You don’t say! Note “You don’t say” is an exclamation, not an imperative sentence. If someone says “you don’t say”, they don’t intend to stop you from talking. What they actually mean is “You’re kidding!” or “Really? I find that interesting, keep talking”. Well, what do you know! ? Another expression quite in vogue these days is “Well, what do you know!” Remember not to use this kind of expression during a work meeting or a job interview however, it’s not appropriate for such formal situations. Example Lily and James are getting married! – Well, what do you know! Well, what do you know, Ann dropped out of Harvard! How to effectively learn English expressions Add eJOY eXtension to your Chrome Highlight any new phrase/ expression to look up its meanings, definition, and pronunciation. Click on the blue +Add button to save the word to your wordbook. eJOY eXtension will help you learn vocabulary in context instead of learning every individual word. I hope this little roundup will help you sort through some of the expressions used in English to express surprise. What are your commonly used expressions? I’d love to hear your take on this. Happy learning!

this is an expression of surprising