taken aback
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She says she was "completely taken aback" when she was told women who are part of a couple can get three rounds of IVF on the NHS but single women are not entitled to any.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Europeans constantly seem taken aback at how seriously Americans take themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“She was completely taken aback by it. She was like, ‘Wow, this is how it really is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
The scourge of the royals recently has been Andrew Lownie, author of the book that revealed so much Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and he was taken aback by a "brilliant speech".
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Desaguliers and a friend later built models of both the Savery and the Newcomen engines: despite his extraordinary expertise, Desaguliers was plainly taken aback to see the Savery engine outperform the Newcomen engine.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
