| VERB | emotion | take aback, shock, floor, ball over, blow out of the water | surprise greatly |
|---|
| Meaning | surprise greatly; knock someone's socks off. | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s somebody; Something ----s somebody | |
| Model | The bad news will take aback him; The good news will take aback her; The performance is likely to take aback Sue | |
| Synonyms | shock, floor, ball over, blow out of the water | |
| Narrower | startle, galvanize, galvanise | To stimulate to action |
| Broader | surprise | Cause to be surprised |
| Catalan | atordir, xocar | |
| Spanish | aturdir, chocar | |