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.
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
Wijgaarts, 40, was taken aback, thinking they were just in Paris for a weekend getaway.
From Barron's • Feb. 12, 2026
“I am always flattered and taken aback when someone tells me ‘I watched you.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 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
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.
