what a surprise
8
2.6
- idiom
:
¡qué sorpresa!
- I said, "Let me just say what a surprise it is to have Neil and Kary Mead in the same line of vision."
If you could hear the global harm as loud as ever, Burger, what a surprise, what a huge shock.
- If you could hear the global harm as loud as ever, Burger, what a surprise, what a huge shock.
- Then they get into an institution like this one, and I find myself saying to them, what a surprise.
Examples
-
Alex, what a surprise.
-
Oh, what a surprise.
-
"My, my," she said, "what a surprise!"
Fiction book (1998) -
"What a surprise to meet again," he said.
Fiction book (1990) -
What a surprise this is!
Blog text (21) -
"Why, Nathan, what a surprise!"
Fiction book (1990) -
"Oh, what a surprise!"
-
But what a surprise.
Fiction book (1990) -
"Rachel, what a surprise."
Fiction book (1998) -
"Well, well, what a surprise!" she exclaimed when she saw the unexpected guest.
Synonyms
347
8.9
An angry or surprised question showing you do not believe something
90
8.9
A short cry to show surprise, confusion, disbelief, or casual acceptance
68
9.8
A short phrase showing surprise and not believing what someone said
5
7.5
A short phrase people say to show surprise or shock
3
8.4
A short sound people make when they suddenly understand something
3
6.7
A short cry people say when they are very surprised
3
9.6
To say when you are very surprised or shocked
3
4.4
Says that something is not expected but is true
A short phrase people say to show surprise at something amazing
To show you are surprised something happened
An informal phrase people say to show surprise or disbelief
A short phrase people say to show surprise or confusion
Antonyms
How Surprised
Surface Forms
Morphology
The exclamative meaning 'used to express astonishment' is directly derivable from combining 'what' (an exclamative introducer) with the noun 'surprise' and the determiner 'a' — the phrase literally signals 'what a surprising thing'. The 'what a + noun' pattern is productive and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily understand this MWE.
Etymology
What a surprise may come from people using what before a thing to show a strong feeling; imagine someone stopping and saying what a surprise when an old friend suddenly appears. So, the phrase is used to show 'surprise' or that something was 'unexpected'.