The unexpected discovery of a fossilized forest came as a complete surprise to the geological survey team.
化石森林的意外发现，对地质勘测队来说完全是一个惊喜。
Art critic Simone Duval praises a museum's decision to display contemporary sculptures alongside ancient artifacts, arguing that the juxtaposition reveals surprising continuities in how humans across eras represent the body.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
Even so, many place names and genealogies recorded in the sagas have been independently confirmed, suggesting that oral tradition preserved a surprising amount of accurate detail alongside its more fantastical elements.
From a Central Ideas and Details question · Information and Ideas
Novelist Petra Vann writes that the best endings surprise readers while still feeling, in retrospect, inevitable given everything that came before.
From a Cross-Text Connections question · Craft and Structure
Which choice best defines “surprise”?
D — An unexpected event or thing. “surprise” means an unexpected event or thing.
Which word means “an unexpected event or thing”?
C — surprise. “surprise” means an unexpected event or thing.
surprise — an unexpected event or thing. In Chinese: 惊讶，惊喜.
surprise is pronounced /sərˈpraɪz/.
The unexpected discovery of a fossilized forest came as a complete surprise to the geological survey team. (化石森林的意外发现，对地质勘测队来说完全是一个惊喜。)
astonishment, amazement, wonder — all close in meaning to surprise (an unexpected event or thing).
expectation, anticipation — each the opposite of surprise (an unexpected event or thing).
Yes. surprise is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.