aback
adverb
Simple meaning
Suddenly shocked or confused.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhbakSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈbæk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
By surprise
“Taken aback by the caustic remarks.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Having the wind against the forward side of the sails
This meaning of 'aback' is a direct repetition of the previous, sailing-specific usage. It describes sails being pushed the wrong way by wind. It's highly specialized and not used outside of naval or sailing contexts.
“The ship came up into the wind with all yards aback.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where you'll really hear it
Naval history books
“The frigate's forward sails were aback, causing a momentary halt.”
Sailing forum
“When did you last have your main sail aback unintentionally?”
Adventure novel
“The sudden squall threw the ship's sails aback with terrifying force.”
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use aback
- “Taken aback by the caustic remarks.”adverb
- “The ship came up into the wind with all yards aback.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.