[Vocabulary] One of complete disbelief

[Kazuo]

Hello!

My initial reaction was one of complete disbelief.
(from Longman Language Activator)

Does it mean one instance of complete disbelief or a kind of it?
Please explain the sentence, focusing on the expression 'one of'.


Thanks in advance

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello!

My initial reaction was one of complete disbelief.
(from Longman Language Activator)

Does it mean one instance of complete disbelief?
Please explain the sentence, focusing on the expression 'one of'.


Thanks in advance

Here, "one" avoids using "reaction" again. What the sentence actually means is:

My initial reaction was a reaction of complete disbelief.

As I'm sure you'll agree, repeating the word "reaction" sounds very clumsy there, so it's replaced with "one of" instead.

It's not entirely necessary to use either construction, as personally I see no problem with:

My initial reaction was complete disbelief!

 

[Kazuo]

Hello!

Thank you very much for your reply.

Can the sentence be expressed as follows? Is this expression also used instead of 'one of'?


My initial reaction was that of complete disbelief.


Thanks in advance

 

[Tdol]

I would use 'that' where there was only really one option or a predictable reaction:
His reaction was that of a spoilt child. (A spoilt child may react in a few ways, but it's fairly predictable)