What's the difference between surprise and wow?

Surprise


Definition:

  • (n.) The act of coming upon, or taking, unawares; the act of seizing unexpectedly; surprisal; as, the fort was taken by surprise.
  • (n.) The state of being surprised, or taken unawares, by some act or event which could not reasonably be foreseen; emotion excited by what is sudden and strange; a suddenly excited feeling of wonder or astonishment.
  • (n.) Anything that causes such a state or emotion.
  • (n.) A dish covered with a crust of raised paste, but with no other contents.
  • (n.) To come or fall suddenly and unexpectedly; to take unawares; to seize or capture by unexpected attack.
  • (n.) To strike with wonder, astonishment, or confusion, by something sudden, unexpected, or remarkable; to confound; as, his conduct surprised me.
  • (n.) To lead (one) to do suddenly and without forethought; to bring (one) into some unexpected state; -- with into; as, to be surprised into an indiscretion; to be surprised into generosity.
  • (n.) To hold possession of; to hold.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough, who bought the island in 1738, were to return today he would doubtless recognise the scene, though he might be surprised that his small private buildings have grown into a sizable hotel.
  • (2) Surprisingly, the clonal elimination of V beta 6+ cells is preceded by marked expansion of these cells.
  • (3) Given Australia’s number one position as the worst carbon emitter per capita among major western nations it seems hardly surprising that islanders from Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and other small island developing states have been turning to Australia with growing exasperation demanding the country demonstrate an appropriate response and responsibility.
  • (4) S&P – the only one of the three major agencies not to have stripped the UK of its coveted AAA status – said it had been surprised at the pick-up in activity during 2013 – a year that began with fears of a triple-dip recession.
  • (5) Why is it so surprising to people that a boy like Chol, just out of conflict, has thought through the needs of his country in such a detailed way?” While Beah’s zeal is laudable, the situation in South Sudan is dire .
  • (6) Diabetic retinopathy (an index of microangiopathy) and absence of peripheral pulses, amputation, or history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or transient ischemic attacks (as evidence of macroangiopathy) caused surprisingly little increase in relative risk for cardiovascular death.
  • (7) Just don’t be surprised if they ask you to repair their phones, too.
  • (8) One surprising finding is that the MAL1g-encoded maltose permease exhibits little sequence homology to the MAL1-encoded maltose permease though they appear to be functionally homologous.
  • (9) Surprisingly, however, despite the severe defect in viral DNA replication, the synthesis of a few species of viral late proteins continues in cells infected by some of the E1B mutants.
  • (10) Thus, during treatment with ethambutol visually (pattern) evoked potentials may reveal a surprisingly high percentage of subclinical optic neuritis.
  • (11) Somewhat surprisingly then, in view of the mechanisms in mammals, birds do not seem to use this seasonal message in the photoperiodic control of reproduction.
  • (12) Infants were habituated to models posing either prototypically positive displays (e.g., happy expressions) or positive expression blends (e.g., mock surprise).
  • (13) The BBA statistics director, David Dooks, said: "It was no surprise to see the January mortgage figures falling back from December, when transactions were being pushed through to beat the end of stamp duty relief.
  • (14) "We knew people would be interested in the announcement, but it's fair to say that the scale of the excitement, right across the world, took us all by surprise.
  • (15) When you have champions of financial rectitude such as the International Monetary Fund and OECD warning of the international risk of an "explosion of social unrest" and arguing for a new fiscal stimulus if growth continues to falter, it's hardly surprising that tensions in the cabinet over next month's spending review are spilling over.
  • (16) Myelodysplastic preleukemic syndromes (MDPS) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) share a surprising in vivo sensitivity to the hormonally acting 13 cis or all trans retinoic acids (transRA).
  • (17) Apple has come out fighting, which is no surprise given the remarkable success that the company has seen in recent years.
  • (18) His words surprised some because of an impression that the US was unwilling to talk about these issues.
  • (19) A teaching union has questioned appointment of a trustee of Britain's largest academy chain group as chairman of the schools regulator Ofsted , in what was a surprise announcement meant to calm some of the internal conflicts within the coalition.
  • (20) Given that a post-poll economy still registers as a crucial issue among undecided voters, and that matters economic are now his BBC day job, that was hardly surprising.

Wow


Definition:

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 9.23am GMT Second set: Murray* 3-6, 2-1 Federer (*denotes server): Wow.
  • (2) We used to watch River Cottage on the telly and thought: “Wow, where’s that?
  • (3) We said before the game, life’s horrible, it’s really tough sometimes; you get a kick in the teeth just when you think you’ve made it and, wow, did we get a kick in the teeth in our semi-final.
  • (4) Surely - famous last words alert - his distance of 8.06m isn't going to win this... 8.08pm BST Wow!
  • (5) And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s the woman I knew was there.’” Did it affect Peake’s own attitude towards men?
  • (6) Ali Mason (@alimason) Wow, Joe Buck is especially keen for us to live más today.
  • (7) Not even a David Freese who is a shadow of the player who wowed the world in the 2011 World Series.
  • (8) Q has upped his gadget game Facebook Twitter Pinterest The brooding and sombre Skyfall scored a few points for post-modern playfulness via its introductory scene for the new Q, in which Ben Whishaw might as well have offered Bond a couple of Netflix vouchers and a year’s subscription to Cosmopolitan for all the wow factor his proffered “gadgets” achieved.
  • (9) (Oh wow, note to self: trademark a version of American Football where players have to crawl or walk on their hands.)
  • (10) 2.43am GMT 49ers 17-23 Seahawks, 2:00, 4th quarter Wow!
  • (11) They tend to have something magical, that makes you go: ‘Wow.
  • (12) In the popular imagination she was a dippy woman who waved her arms a lot, sang in a shrieky voice and said wow every other word.
  • (13) He brought so much joy and heart to millions... Just, wow.
  • (14) At the end of the concert, this guy comes over with long hair and lipstick and he says ‘Hi how are you doing, I’m Brian Eno.’ I thought wow this is poetic justice … here’s Brian Eno listening to me, that’s great.
  • (15) 2.04am BST Heat 35-34 Spurs, 4:54 remaining, 2nd quarter Oh wow.
  • (16) The asymmetric phase shift in the model studied tends to accompany an improvement in the modulation transfer function (MTF) in the midfrequency region while introducing "wows" into the image.
  • (17) Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) The media is so after me on women Wow, this is a tough business.
  • (18) At least half the Tory party thinks you're not completely messing up the economy … Osborne: Wow!
  • (19) China appears to have spared no expense in its bid to wow the world.
  • (20) A recent visit to Hamleys' new dolls area turned up a bumper brash-pack of new fashion dolls from the big companies: LaDeeDa Dolls (a swift move by SpinMaster), buzzing Flitter Fairies (Wow Stuff), glow-in-the-dark Bratzillaz (a brazen MGA fast-follow of the huge Mattel Monster High), Ever After High (Mattel), flashing Novi Stars (also MGA, alien dolls with Camden market hair springs and extensions) and all sorts of blinky, noisy merch spinoffs.

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