Surprise can occur in varying levels of intensity and valence. Flummoxed, flabbergasted, astounded, staggered, startled, stunned, thunderstruck, aghast, taken aback, dumbfounded, dumbstruck, stupefied, dazed, gobsmacked, astonished, shocked, appalled, speechless. These synonyms all have a heightened degree of surprise but none seem to define slightly surprised. The closest I think is jiggered, which is a British slang.
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1"Bemused" might convey mild surprise, but slight confusion too.– Araucaria - HimCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 1:51
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1Are you looking for a catch-all term? Because I think mild physical surprise (startled when an insect flies in your face) and mild intellectual surprise (stumped for a moment when someone asks a strange question) are quite different things.– John FeltzCommented Dec 1, 2016 at 16:25
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Physical surprise: startled, as @JohnFeltz says. Mental surprise: taken aback. Don't use jiggered -- it is very dated. (Also, taken aback is a frozen form: you can't use it any other way. For instance, "This will take them aback" is wrong.)– TonyKCommented Dec 1, 2016 at 17:11
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4 Answers
"Startled" carries a milder level of surprise than, say, "astounded". So one could be startled by someone jumping out at them, or by a cat suddenly swatting them with its paw when they didn't know it was next to them, or an unexpected loud noise. The meaning isn't just "surprise", though. Closest one I can think of, however.
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"Startled" conveys a sudden surprise or shock though. It doesn't seem milder than surprised but yeah maybe milder than astonished depending on the context.– ermanenCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 14:38
'Mildly surprised' is how I'd express this idea. Sometimes a qualifying adverb plus the basic concept has to do the job of a precise verb.
Quizzical might convey the intended meaning.
Chiefly of a person's expression: questioning, enquiring; indicating mild or amused puzzlement. [OED]
He gave me a quizzical look when I ordered toad in the hole.
In the US, we'd probably say, "(Something/someone) raised eyebrows".
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1i feel that rather means event X "was slightly outside of social norms; caused mild gossip"– FattieCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 4:17
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@JoeBlow - As opposed to 'shock and awe'? Yeah, 'mild surprise'.– OldbagCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 10:06
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Hmm, I may have expressed myself not goodly. "surprise" is when something happens suddenly - or unexpectedly. (Example: an explosion.) "raised eyebrows" happen when something is socially unacceptable ("The professor married a student? that will raise eyebrows" "She took her fancy man to church - that sure raised eyebrows") It means it caused gossip; "surprise" may be uninvolved, the student or fancy-man incidents may have been completely expected and well-known.– FattieCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 10:21
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for example, my computer OED gives only an example of social disapproval with no surprise involved ("Romanov merely raised his eyebrows at the discourtesy.") (Although it does state the meanings as either surprise or disapproval.)– FattieCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 10:23
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(I can't even .. formulate an example sentence where "raise eyebrows" means "surprised". Example, "When the plate smashed on the floor, boy that raised my eyebrows" ... doesn't scan!)– FattieCommented Jun 8, 2015 at 10:24