flustered
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of flustered
Explanation
To be flustered is to lose your cool. When you're flustered, you're embarrassed, agitated, or just confused. If your pants fell down in the middle of class while you were giving a presentation, you'd probably be flustered: highly embarrassed, out of breath, and a little freaked out. It's hard to concentrate when you're flustered — it's a distracting state of mind. Being flustered isn't quite as bad as being panicked, but it's close. People can also get flustered by good things, like if someone you had a crush on kissed you.
Vocabulary lists containing flustered
The Giver
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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The City of Ember
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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.
“Let me put on some clothes first,” she told the nurse, flustered.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
And Wall Street has pointedly refused to be flustered by the conflict in recent weeks, particularly after excitement over robust corporate earnings.
From Barron's • May 11, 2026
Back in February, an otherwise dry senate hearing took an unexpected turn when a flustered treasury official confirmed a little known fact: Australia gets more tax from beer than gas exports.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
After she says she is, in a flustered tone, he sarcastically asks: “You don’t sound sure. Want to make a phone call?”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
I can’t risk getting flustered by talking about the test material now.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
