taken aback

Cliché surprised and confused. When Mary told me the news, I was taken aback for a moment. When I told my parents I was married, they were completely taken aback.

taken aback

confused or surprised by something unexpected Company executives have been taken aback by the criticism. I asked him directly if he was looking for someone with my skills, and I think he was kind of taken aback.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of aback (backward), which is not used in modern English

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Devon	DEV-ən, də-VAHN	English
Aritra	-	Bengali
Loukas	-	Biblical Greek
NebİL	-	Turkish
Adnan	-	Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, Urdu
Jayne	[dʒein]