surprisingly

adverb

sur·​pris·​ing·​ly sər-ˈprī-ziŋ-lē 

sə-

1

: in a surprising manner : to a surprising degree

a surprisingly fast runner

2

: it is surprising that

surprisingly, voter turnout was high

Examples of surprisingly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Another impending free agent, the pitching guru oversaw one of baseball’s best rotations and that aforementioned surprisingly successful bullpen. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026

Jacklynn says her following grew surprisingly quickly, eventually leading to collaborations, brand interest and, nearly a year later, a full-time career. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 8 Oct. 2026

Independents, not surprisingly, stake out something of a middle ground. — Julio Borquez, The Conversation, 8 Oct. 2026

Perhaps surprisingly, the youngest collectors were the most private, both in person and online. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 8 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for surprisingly

• tantalizingly
• unsurprisingly
• uncompromisingly

Kids Definition

surprisingly

adverb

sur·​pris·​ing·​ly -lē 

1

: in a surprising manner : to a surprising degree

a surprisingly fast runner

2

: it is surprising that

surprisingly, no one disagreed