to take aback
39
4.2
- phrasal verb
- /teɪk əˈbæk/
:
sorprender
- I was completely taken aback when he proposed to me in front of all our friends.
- seem taken aback
- so taken aback
- somewhat taken aback
I was a little taken aback at first at the slight tug on the skin.
- I was a little taken aback at first at the slight tug on the skin.
- And they're naturally also sort of taken aback by it because what do you do?
- I was slightly taken aback by some of those words, cruelty, wonder, brilliance and tragedy.
- I was doing my Jennifer Coolidge impression to great acclaim, it should be known, and I was a little taken aback by this comment.
- I was completely taken aback that somebody gave me a dot, which is feedback for people watching this.
- This palette from Bare Minerals, like I open this up and I was just taken aback by the beauty of these pearly, really pretty highlighter kind of tones.
- And I was taken aback by how hopeless and despairing some people out there are with respect to women in relationships.
- At first I was taken aback, but once he said trust me, I was all in.
- And, and I remember just being so taken aback by the way she was pursued her whole life and then the way she died and how it all ended tragically.
- And she's, like, kind of taken aback, which, you know, it, honestly.
- So this person is just taken aback, surprise, just like, you know, what is going on.
- I'm hello like I'm I'm taken aback.
- Judy and I was taken aback.
- And so I felt like I had to say hello, and they were a little taken aback, but they were like, OK, OK, well, OK.
Examples
-
To my surprise, he was distinctly taken aback.
-
Our students were taken aback by the mean lives of their counterparts at Beijing University.
Academic text (1990) -
At first I was taken aback, but once he said trust me, I was all in.
-
Well, I was just taken aback by the whole situation.
-
We're all a bit taken aback at how huge this case has suddenly become.
-
We were certainly taken aback by this most tragic accident.
-
In your scenario, you were taken aback by his intention.
-
We were all taken aback, and moved and touched by it, because of this tremendous affection.
-
And I was taken aback by how hopeless and despairing some people out there are with respect to women in relationships.
-
Then Wendy stepped out of the way, and the geologist was taken aback by what he saw.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To cause someone to feel wonder by doing something they do not expect
294
1.0
To surprise someone very much
202
2.1
To cause someone to feel sudden surprise and distress
50
6.2
To surprise someone a lot and make them feel excited
41
4.2
To surprise someone very much and make them feel amazed
33
4.1
Make someone feel very surprised and unable to speak
27
6.2
To surprise someone without warning so they feel shocked or upset
15
6.6
To surprise someone so much they cannot react
15
4.0
To surprise someone so they are not ready to react
13
3.5
To surprise someone very much
8
7.4
To surprise someone very much
7
3.8
Surprise someone very much
4
6.8
To surprise and beat someone or something by a large amount
2
8.1
To surprise someone suddenly and very strongly
1
8.4
To surprise or confuse someone by doing something they did not expect
To make someone feel very surprised
To surprise someone very much
How Surprised
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to surprise or shock' is directly derivable from combining 'take' (to cause or affect someone) with 'aback' (by surprise, off guard) — essentially 'cause someone to be aback.' This follows a common causative verb + adverbial pattern and is compositionally transparent (even though 'aback' is relatively rare), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Take aback comes from old sailors. When wind hit a ship's sails from the front, the sails were pushed aback and the crew were surprised, so to be 'taken aback' came to mean 'surprised' or 'shocked'.