fluster
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to put into a state of agitated confusion.
His constant criticism flustered me.
- Synonyms:
- disturb, disconcert, bewilder, upset
-
to excite and confuse with drink.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have flusteredperfect
-
has flusteredperfect 3rd person singular
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has been flusteringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am flusteringprogressive 1st person singular
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flusterssingular 3rd person
-
are flusteringprogressive
-
is flusteringprogressive 3rd person singular
-
have been flusteringperfect progressive
-
flusteringparticiple
Past
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had flusteredperfect
-
had been flusteringperfect progressive
-
were flusteringprogressive plural
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flusteredparticiple
-
was flusteringprogressive singular
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flusteredsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of fluster
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English flostren; cf. bluster, Old Norse flaustra “to hurry”
Explanation
To fluster someone is to make them feel upset or agitated. There are many things that might fluster you: giving a speech in front of the whole school, solving a challenging math problem, or even getting a love note from an admirer. If your coworker is about to give the biggest presentation of his life, you’ll probably only fluster, or upset, him if you point out that his socks don’t match. Use the adjective form, flustered, to describe someone when they’re feeling this way. Most of us get flustered once in a while, but if you’re “easily flustered,” it happens to you quite often. Don’t worry, though; that just gives you more opportunities to practice using this vocabulary word.
Vocabulary lists containing fluster
The Hobbit
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fluster Chuck Did anyone tell Chuck Hagel there would be questions?
From Slate • Feb. 1, 2013
Having seen Mr. Bluster in Hamlet, Pierre, and Romeo, we were not expected, after a short interval, to crowd again to the theatre to applaud Mr. Fluster in Romeo, Pierre, and Hamlet.
From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Leslie, Eliza
“Buster and Muster and Fluster, and Joe and Rob and Mac.”
From Tommy Trot's Visit to Santa Claus by Anderson, Victor C.
Fluster, flus′tėr, n. hurrying: confusion: heat.—v.t. to make hot and confused: to fuddle.—v.i. to bustle: to be agitated or fuddled.—v.t.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
