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Synonyms

take aback

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to astonish or disconcert

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
take aback Idioms  

  1. Surprise, shock, as in He was taken aback by her caustic remark. This idiom comes from nautical terminology of the mid-1700s, when be taken aback referred to the stalling of a ship caused by a wind shift that made the sails lay back against the masts. Its figurative use was first recorded in 1829.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At the start of Jeremy Vine's show on Radio 2 at midday, Vine said he was "taken aback by the story" and that he had "no further information" about it.

From BBC

The man was clearly taken aback, some of the other patrons chuckling in surprise, the Dodger pulse of this town clearly resonating in a completely unusual fashion.

From Los Angeles Times

"Prime Minister Takaichi viscerally reacted, her eyes widening and her smile disappearing as she leaned back, drawing her hands in, clearly taken aback by the sudden mention of Pearl Harbor," she said.

From BBC

Ba blinked at me, clearly taken aback that I was taking charge.

From Literature

“I know that,” Theo says through the door, and I think I hear him stammer a little, taken aback by my fury.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.