surprising

sur-PRY-zing/sɚˈpɹaɪzɪŋ/UKsuh-PRY-zing/səˈpɹaɪzɪŋ/

Noun pluralsurprisings

3 meanings of surprising

1
adjective
Making someone feel shocked or amazed because it was not expected.
Like opening a plain box and finding a gift you never expected.
The ending of the movie was really surprising.
It was surprising how fast the puppy learned the trick.
Similarunexpected, astonishing, amazing, startling, remarkable
Oppositepredictable, expected, unsurprising
Note
2
verb
Present participle of surprise. Use this -ing form when the action is happening now.
They are surprising their mom with a birthday cake.
Surprising your friends with good news is always fun.
Note
3
nouncountable
A time when someone is surprised by something.
But the comments of most of these novelists are the record of their continual surprisings by the varieties of moral and aesthetic truths.
1983, David Dowling, Novelists on NovelistsHere, surprisings means times when they were surprised by something.
Note

surprising is a form of surprise

surprise, verb: To make someone feel surprised because they did not expect something. Also, to feel that way. Full entry

Forms: surprisesurprises he/she/itsurprising -ing formsurprised past tense, past participle
Spelling: surprise → surprising: drop the e, add -ing

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Origin

It comes from the word "surprise" plus the ending "-ing".