English

Verb

take aback ‎(third-person singular simple present takes aback, present participle taking aback, simple past took aback, past participle taken aback)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To surprise or shock; to discomfit.

   I was rather taken aback by his angry reply.

   The bad news took us aback.

   • 2014, Steve Rose, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: a primate scream - first look review", The Guardian, 1 July 2014:

     They haven't seen humans for years, so when a small expedition, led by Jason Clarke, stumbles into apetopia, both sides are taken aback.

2. (nautical, usually passive) Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly.

Usage notes

• Most commonly found in the passive voice.
• Unlike most phrasal verbs, take aback in the active voice requires its object to immediately follow the verb. *The bad news took aback us is ungrammatical in contemporary English.

Translations