taken aback
IdiomsExample Sentences
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I was a little taken aback by the clumsiness of the comedy, which makes even “Saturday Night Live” of recent vintage seem like a work of genius.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Cruise was initially taken aback by how transformative the jowly prosthetics that artist Kazu Hiro designed for him were.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
He described how he was taken aback when he had an uninterrupted view of it at the top of stairs at the start of the exhibition.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
I still remember being completely taken aback by how good the food was.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
“I know that,” Theo says through the door, and I think I hear him stammer a little, taken aback by my fury.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
