unpleasant surprise

collocation in English

meaningsofunpleasantandsurprise

These words are often used together. Click on the links below to explore the meanings. Or,see other collocations withsurprise.
unpleasant
adjective
uk
/ʌnˈplez.ənt/us
/ʌnˈplez.ənt/
not enjoyable ...
See more atunpleasant
surprise
noun
uk
/səˈpraɪz/us
/sɚˈpraɪz/
an ...
See more atsurprise

(Definition ofunpleasantandsurprisefrom theCambridge English Dictionary© Cambridge University Press)

Examplesofunpleasant surprise

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
For some householders there will be anunpleasantsurprisewhen the rate is fixed for the coming year.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They anticipated retirement in every way, and, perhaps, these new proposals have been something of anunpleasantsurpriseto them.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I hope in this case that what at one stage looked like a slightlyunpleasantsurprisemay prove to have served a useful purpose.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I am bound to say also that it was anunpleasantsurprise.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I think that he might get anunpleasantsurprise.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I am pleased that, whenever we have given in to those calls in the past decade and a half, it has invariably been anunpleasantsurprisefor his party.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
His newly changed personality comes as somewhat of anunpleasantsurprise, and he alienates his friends.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
This was very odd, and supports the idea that anunpleasantsurpriseawaited him.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
To hisunpleasantsurprise, it was a gin instead of water.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Slade is anunpleasantsurprisefor the family, as he deliberately provokes everyone and the night ends in acrimony.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
I imagine that other speakers would have experienced such unpleasant surprises, too.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
Naturally there have been some unpleasant surprises, and also some awkward things have happened, as might be expected beforehand.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The rapporteur stressed this in his report, but it continues to be the case that we come up against unpleasant surprises in this area.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
Obviously, a mathematical average can hide a variety of unpleasant surprises.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Consumers received many unpleasant surprises from the mortgage deals that they had been sold.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
During the last dozen years they have had two very unpleasant surprises.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Such an early enforcement process can help to avoid unpleasant surprises in 2020.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
Indeed, to the medical man, unpleasant surprises are constantly being revealed, in the case both of drugs and of chemicals used in food preparation.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Of course, war is full of ugly and unpleasant surprises.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I am convinced that they will receive some unpleasant surprises.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Want to learn more?
Go to the definition ofunpleasant
Go to the definition ofsurprise
See other collocations withsurprise