aback

adverb/əˈbæk/

Frequency rank: #13,124 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

By surprise; in a startled or disconcerted manner (used mainly in 'taken aback').

Illustration for the English word “aback”

Example sentence

He was taken aback by the sudden criticism from his manager.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 13,101–13,200