take aback
phrasal verb
took aback; taken aback; taking aback; takes aback
: to surprise or shock (someone)
—usually used as (be) taken aback
When I told him my answer, he seemed taken aback.
—often + byHe was taken aback by her answer.
Examples of take aback in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Combine all this with its vivacious powerplant, and I was taken aback by how effortless and daily-ready this monster was to drive.
—
Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
But along with raking in $28 million for the Biden campaign, the marquee event proved fateful in a different way: George Clooney, taken aback at President Biden’s seeming frailty during the event, wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times a month later calling on him to step back from the race.
—Miriam Waldvogel, The Hill, 21 July 2025
Like their commissioner colleagues several weeks before, the clerks were taken aback by Small's outreach, and none agreed to his request.
—Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 18 July 2025
Florentino Perez’s predecessor as president, Ramon Calderon, remembers being taken aback almost two decades ago when Madrid played Real Salt Lake, a club named in their honour, in Utah in front of a full house.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for take aback
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Peter Nelson, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025
But along with raking in $28 million for the Biden campaign, the marquee event proved fateful in a different way: George Clooney, taken aback at President Biden’s seeming frailty during the event, wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times a month later calling on him to step back from the race.
—Miriam Waldvogel, The Hill, 21 July 2025
Like their commissioner colleagues several weeks before, the clerks were taken aback by Small's outreach, and none agreed to his request.
—Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 18 July 2025
Florentino Perez’s predecessor as president, Ramon Calderon, remembers being taken aback almost two decades ago when Madrid played Real Salt Lake, a club named in their honour, in Utah in front of a full house.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for take aback
Cite this Entry
“Take aback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20aback. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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