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Incongruous vs Surprising - What's the difference?

incongruous | surprising | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between incongruous and surprising

is that incongruous is not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in while surprising is that is or are a surprise.

As a verb surprising is

present participle of lang=en.

As a noun surprising is

the action of the verb to surprise.

incongruous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Not similar or congruent; not matching or fitting in.
  • * 1853 , , Villette , ch. 34:
  • [P]erhaps he thought me, with my basket of summer fruit, and my lack of the dignity age confers, an incongruous figure in such a scene.
  • *
  • Ona was blue-eyed and fair, while Jurgis had great black eyes with beetling brows, and thick black hair that curled in waves about his ears—in short, they were one of those incongruous and impossible married couples with which Mother Nature so often wills to confound all prophets.
  • * 1912 , , A Son Of The Sun m ch. 1:
  • Ardent suns had likewise tanned his face till it was swarthy as a Spaniard's. The yellow mustache appeared incongruous in the midst of such swarthiness.
  • * 2014 , Daniel Taylor, England and Wayne Rooney see off Scotland in their own back yard'' (in ''The Guardian , 18 November 2014)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/18/scotland-england-international-friendly-match-report]
  • For a few moments England toyed with the idea of making it a more difficult night than necessary. Scotland had scored a goal that seemed incongruous to the rest of their performance and, briefly, a fiercely partisan crowd sensed an improbable comeback.
  • (math) Of two numbers, with respect to a third, such that their difference can not be divided by it without a remainder.
  • 20 and 25 are incongruous with respect to 4.

    Derived terms

    * incongruously * incongruousness

    surprising

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • Noun

    (s)
  • The action of the verb to surprise .
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • That is or are a surprise.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 3, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke , passage=With this the second of three games in seven days for Stoke, it was hardly surprising to see nine changes from the side that started against Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}

    Synonyms

    * astonishing, unexpected See