take sb aback
— phrasal verb with take uk/teɪk/us/teɪk/verb took, taken
to surprise or shock someone so much that they do not know how to behave for a short time:
I was a little taken aback at the directness of the question.
The news really took us aback.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Surprising and shocking
- a blinding flash idiom
- a bolt from/out of the blue idiom
- amaze
- amazing
- astonish
- bolt
- breath
- dynamite
- earth-shattering
- expectation
- eye-opener
- faze
- revelation
- spring sth on sb
- staggering
- startle
- startling
- sting
- stunning
- thunderbolt
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Making people sad, shocked and upset