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.
Smart said she was a little taken aback when she first learned how things would pan out for aging comic Deborah Vance and her mentee Ava Daniels, played by Hannah Einbinder.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
Logan says he was taken aback by the offer and promptly alerted his former employers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
When county clerk Brianna Lennon got an email in November saying a newly expanded federal system had flagged 74 people on the county’s voter roll as potential noncitizens, she was taken aback.
From Salon • Feb. 27, 2026
"Even when I walked out the store, I was still a bit taken aback by it."
From BBC • Feb. 16, 2026
Travers seemed a little taken aback at that, and he turned instead to Ron.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
