QUITE/FAIRLY formal used to say that something is a shock, surprise etc, but not completely or not in a strong or severe way 某事有点令人吃惊/意外等
The news came as something of a surprise.
这消息让人感到有点意外。
Examples from the Corpus
came as something of• The feel of his strong fingersenclosing her small palmcame as something of a shock to her system.• That she was shocked came as something of a shock to me, too.• At the time it came as something of a shock.• Even though I thought I was becoming immune to surprises from this species, what happenedcame as something of a shock.• The tapes came as something of a shock.• In this context, the impact of area-promoting advertisingcame as something of a surprise.• Jim and his wife Jan have been married for 18 years and the babycame as something of a surprise.• Some of their viewscame as something of a surprise.