aback
Example 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
The man was clearly taken aback, some of the other patrons chuckling in surprise, the Dodger pulse of this town clearly resonating in a completely unusual fashion.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026
"Prime Minister Takaichi viscerally reacted, her eyes widening and her smile disappearing as she leaned back, drawing her hands in, clearly taken aback by the sudden mention of Pearl Harbor," she said.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
Ortiz went to see the piece and was taken aback; it was, to his mind, clearly a fake, full of contradictory and slipshod elements.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Vocabulary lists containing aback
The Diary of Anne Frank
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Just Mercy
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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