take aback
/ˌteɪk əˈbæk/
"take-aback" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“take aback” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To surprise or shock; to discomfit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-take-aback · take aback · English
take aback · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | take aback |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌteɪk əˈbæk/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “take aback” in English
Rare enough to double-check
take aback is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌteɪk əˈbæk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
take aback has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From take + aback, see the two entries for their respective etymology. The correct English form is take aback, spelled T-A-K-E- -A-B-A-C-K.
Definition
- 1To surprise or shock; to discomfit.
- 2Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how take aback appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I was rather taken aback by his angry reply.
The bad news took us aback.
Etymology
From take + aback, see the two entries for their respective etymology.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.