ROGET'S THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES ...

surprise, startle, take aback, electrify, stun, stagger, take away one's breath, throw off
one's guard; astonish, dumbfound &c (strike with wonder) 870.
Adj. nonexpectant † ; surprised &c v.; unwarned, unaware; off one's guard; inattentive
458.
unexpected, unanticipated, unpredicted † , unlooked for, unforeseen, unhoped for;
dropped from the clouds; beyond expectation, contrary to expectation, against
expectation, against all expectation; out of one's reckoning; unheard of &c (exceptional)
83; startling, surprising; sudden &c (instantaneous) 113.
unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable) 519.
Adv. abruptly, unexpectedly, surprisingly; plump, pop, a l'improviste [Fr.], unawares;
without notice, without warning, without a 'by your leave'; like a thief in the night, like a
thunderbolt; in an unguarded moment; suddenly &c (instantaneously) 113.
Int. heydey! † , &c (wonder) 870.
Phr. little did one think, little did one expect; nobody would ever suppose, nobody would
ever think, nobody would ever expect; who would have thought? it beats the Dutch † .
509. [Failure of expectation.] Disappointment -- N. disappointment; blighted hope,
balk; blow; anticlimax; slip 'twixt cup and lip; nonfulfillment of one's hopes; sad
disappointment, bitter disappointment; trick of fortune; afterclap; false expectation, vain
expectation; miscalculation &c 481; fool's paradise; much cry and little wool.
V. be disappointed; look blank, look blue; look aghast, stand aghast &c (wonder) 870;
find to one's cost; laugh on the wrong side of one's mouth; find one a false prophet.
not realize one's hope, not realize one's expectation.
[cause to be disappointed] disappoint; frustrate, discomfit, crush, defeat (failure) 732;
crush one's hope, dash one's hope, balk one's hope, disappoint one's hope, blight one's
hope, falsify one's hope, defeat one's hope, discourage; balk, jilt, bilk; play one false, play
a trick; dash the cup from the lips, tantalize; dumfound, dumbfound, dumbfounder,
dumfounder (astonish) 870.
Adj. disappointed &c v.; disconcerted, aghast; disgruntled; out of one's reckoning.
Phr. the mountain labored and brought forth a mouse; parturiunt montes [Lat.]; nascitur
ridiculus mus [Lat.] [Horace]; diis aliter visum [Lat.], the bubble burst; one's
countenance falling.
510. Foresight -- N. foresight, prospicience † , prevision, long-sightedness; anticipation;
providence &c (preparation) 673.
forethought, forecast; predeliberation † , presurmise † ; foregone conclusion &c
(prejudgment) 481; prudence &c (caution) 864.
foreknowledge; prognosis; precognition, prescience, prenotion † , presentiment; second
sight; sagacity &c (intelligence) 498; antepast † , prelibation † , prophasis † .
prospect &c (expectation) 507; foretaste; prospectus &c (plan) 626.
V. foresee; look forwards to, look ahead, look beyond; scent from afar; look into the
future, pry into the future, peer into the future.
see one's way; see how the land lies, get the lay of the land, see how the wind blows,
test the waters, see how the cat jumps.
anticipate; expect &c 507; be beforehand &c (early) 132; predict &c 511; foreknow,
forejudge, forecast; presurmise † ; have an eye to the future, have an eye to the main