element of surprise

noun

The strategic advantage afforded to a party when its opposition may be caught by surprise.

“We should attack the enemy's camp now while we still have the element of surprise.”

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Meanings

nounelement of surprise (plural elements of surprise)

plural elements of surprise

  1. idiomaticThe strategic advantage afforded to a party when its opposition may be caught by surprise.

    We should attack the enemy's camp now while we still have the element of surprise.

    1 more example

    We exist separately from ACT UP/New York because it's impossible to conduct small actions [i.e. protests] that rely on the element of surprise for their success, when you need to tell 200 people about them first.

    1992 February 2, Jen Wofford, quoting Garance Franke-Ruta, “Activists Protest Price of AIDS Drug”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 5

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 出其不意, 兵者詭道 /兵者诡道
  • 出其不意 (chūqíbùyì)strategic advantage
  • 兵者詭道 /兵者诡道 (bīngzhěguǐdào)strategic advantage
Dutch verrassingselement
  • verrassingselementstrategic advantage
Finnish yllätystekijä
  • yllätystekijästrategic advantage
Portuguese elemento supresa
  • elemento supresastrategic advantage
Cite this entry
APA

element of surprise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/element%20of%20surprise

MLA

“element of surprise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/element%20of%20surprise. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “element of surprise,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/element%20of%20surprise.

Source: element of surprise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.