aback
UK/əˈbæk//əˈbæk/
aback adverb: towards the back or rear; backwards.
Adverb
aback (not comparable)
- Towards the back or rear; backwards.
- The mild, though licentious reign, of Louis the Sixteenth, threw France far aback, in her ambitious career; but it gave birth to that revolution, wherein, her warlike propensities and territorial resources were unfolded with tenfold efficacy.1815, David Laurie, A Treatise on Finance, under which, the General Interests of the British Empire are Illustrated, Glasgow: Chapman, page 322
- Then stopped, and bounded aback, and away as if in fear, / That I saw her no more; then I wondered though sitting close anear / Was a she-wolf great and grisly.1889, William Morris, A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark, London: Reeves & Turner, page 31
- In the rear; a distance behind.
- There are so many canes upon Reliance that the labourers could not cut those aback, as they prefer cutting those in front. The cane fields aback were in cultivation last year.1840, “Proceedings of an Inquiry held at plantation Reliance, in the county of Essequibo”, in Papers Relative to the West Indies, 1841: British Guiana, London: H.M.S.O., published 1841, page 201
- By surprise; startled; dumbfounded. (see usage)
- I would rather board a hundred of the enemy's frigates, than steer my boat into a fleet of modest women, for a modest woman never fails to take me aback.1808, The Post-Captain: A View of Naval Society and Manners, 3rd edition, London: Thomas Tegg, page 165
- Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
- Q. Was not the Trident at that time aback with one or more Top-sails? A. To the best of my Knowledge she had both Top-sails aback.1757, Charles Fearne, The Trial of the Honourable Admiral John Byng, at a Court Martial, London: Manby, et al, page 89
- As the anchor fetches her up, she will swing head to wind, bringing the head sails aback.1841, Benjamin J. Totten, Naval Text-book, Boston: Little & Brown, page 144
Noun
aback (plural abacks)
- An inscribed stone square.
- In the Centre, or midst of the Pegm, there was an Aback, or Square, wherein this Elogy was written.1604, Ben Jonson, “Part of the King's Entertainment in Passing to His Coronation”, in The Works of Ben Jonson, London: Printed by Thomas Hodgkin, published 1692, page 306
aback meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
aback in Hindi
- backwards
- पीछ॓ की ओर, बोचक्क bocakk
aback in Tamil
- பின்னுக்கு, பின்னோக்கி, திடீரென, திடுக்கிடும்படி, பின்புறமாக
aback in Urdu
- پیچھے کو
aback in Bengali
- backwards
- পেছন দিকে, অবাক obak
More languagesFewer languages
- aback in Telugu
- వెనక్కి venakki
- aback in Malayalam
- പിൻഭാഗത്ത്, അറിയാതെ, അപ്രതീക്ഷിതമായി
- aback in Kannada
- ಹಠಾತ್ತಾಗಿ ಹಿಂದಕ್ಕೆ, ಹಿಂದೆ, ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಚಕಿತ, ವಿಸ್ಮಯಗೊಂಡ
- aback in Arabic
- إِلَى اَلْخَلْف ʔilā l-ḵalf
- aback in Persian
- جاخوردن, یکه خوردن, غافلگیرشدن
- aback in Vietnamese
- đằng sau, lùi lại, trở lại phía sau, về phía sau
Examples of aback in a sentence
- I was taken aback by the blunt admission that he had never liked my company.
- I was rather taken aback by his angry reply.
- The bad news took us aback.
Synonyms of aback
Forms of aback
| plural | abacks |
|---|
Origin of aback
From Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc, equivalent to a- (“towards”) + back. Compare West Frisian tebek (“aback”, adverb, literally “to/at back”), Swedish tillbaka (idem.).
Borrowed from Latin abacus.
Words formed from aback
Phrases with aback
Words that rhyme with aback
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- plaque
- whack
- slack
- Cadillac
- swack
- thwack
- pac
- shack
- bivouac
- cack
- clack
- gack
- lack
- smack
- unpack
- wrack
- flak
- hark back
- mack
- claque
- flack
- knack
- quack
- shellac
- snack
- yak
- Aach
- ack
- gak
- mac
- Meshach
- multitrack
- plack
- snacc
- wack
- akh
- alack
- awrack
- brach
- cac
- Cayman Brac
- Chiraq
- cook back
- craic
- diclofenac
- dictionary attack
- dime back
- fac
Questions about aback
- What does aback mean?
- Aback means towards the back or rear; backwards.
- What is aback in Hindi?
- Aback in Hindi is पीछ॓ की ओर, बोचक्क (bocakk). See Aback meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is aback?
- Aback can be an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce aback?
- Aback is pronounced /əˈbæk/ (UK).
Words near aback in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: aback (page history and authors); aback (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aback (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aback (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); aback (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-aback.ogg, en-ca-aback.ogg.
Cite this entry: “aback.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/aback. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.