surprisal: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1-C2Technical/Academic
Quick answer
What does “surprisal” mean?
A measurable unit or degree of surprise.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A measurable unit or degree of surprise; the state of being surprised.
A technical term used in information theory, psychology, and linguistics to quantify the unexpectedness of an event, calculated as the negative logarithm of its probability.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage; it is equally technical in both varieties.
Connotations
Connotes scientific precision and measurement of cognitive or informational phenomena.
Frequency
Extremely rare in everyday speech in both varieties, limited to academic/technical papers.
Grammar
How to Use “surprisal” in a Sentence
The [NOUN] resulted in a high level of surprisal.Researchers calculated the surprisal of the [EVENT].Vocabulary
Collocations
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rarely used. Might appear in data analytics contexts: 'The model's surprisal metric indicated anomalous market behaviour.'
Academic
Common in cognitive science, linguistics, and information theory papers: 'The study correlated reading times with syntactic surprisal.'
Everyday
Virtually never used in casual conversation.
Technical
Core term in information theory: 'Surprisal is defined as -log₂(p), where p is probability.'
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “surprisal”
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “surprisal”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “surprisal”
- Using it as a synonym for 'surprise' in general conversation.
- Mispronouncing it as /ˈsɜːrprɪzəl/ (like 'surprise' + '-al').
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. While related, 'surprise' is the general emotional state, whereas 'surprisal' is a specific, measurable quantity used in technical fields to quantify unexpectedness.
It is strongly discouraged as it will sound unnatural and overly technical. Use 'surprise,' 'astonishment,' or 'shock' instead.
Its primary home is in information theory, but it is widely adopted in cognitive science, psycholinguistics, and computational linguistics.
No. The related verb is 'to surprise.' 'Surprisal' is exclusively a noun.
A measurable unit or degree of surprise.
Surprisal is usually technical/academic in register.
Surprisal: in British English it is pronounced /səˈpraɪz(ə)l/, and in American English it is pronounced /sərˈpraɪz(ə)l/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “[No common idioms; technical term]”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: SURPRISE + 'al' (like in 'arrival') = the arrival or formal measurement of surprise.
Conceptual Metaphor
INFORMATION IS A QUANTIFIABLE SUBSTANCE (e.g., 'high surprisal', 'unit of surprisal').
Practice
Quiz
In which context is the word 'surprisal' most appropriately used?