baffle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to confuse, bewilder, or perplex.
He was baffled by the technical language of the instructions.
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to frustrate or confound; thwart by creating confusion or bewilderment.
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to check or deflect the movement of (sound, light, fluids, etc.).
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to equip with a baffle or baffles.
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Obsolete. to cheat; trick.
verb (used without object)
noun
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something that balks, checks, or deflects.
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an artificial obstruction for checking or deflecting the flow of gases (as in a boiler), sounds (as in the loudspeaker system of a radio or hi-fi set), light (as in a darkroom), etc.
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any boxlike enclosure or flat panel for mounting a loudspeaker.
verb
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to perplex; bewilder; puzzle
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to frustrate (plans, efforts, etc)
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to check, restrain, or regulate (the flow of a fluid or the emission of sound or light)
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to provide with a baffle
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obsolete to cheat or trick
noun
Usage
What does baffle mean? Baffle means to confuse, bewilder, perplex, or confound. The word usually implies that such confusion causes someone to come to standstill—that it stumps them or makes them completely bewildered. You might be baffled by a difficult riddle or confusing instructions. People’s strange behavior might baffle you. The term is often used in the context of experts or scientists being baffled by some newly discovered thing or phenomenon—one they can’t figure out or comprehend. Someone or something that baffles can be described as baffling. As a verb, baffle can also mean to deflect or regulate the movement or flow of something, such as gas or light. The word can also be used as a noun referring to a component or part that does this. Example: This door is completely baffling! I can never figure out how to get it unlocked.
Synonym Usage
See thwart.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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bafflementnoun
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bafflernoun
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bafflingnessnoun
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bafflingadjective
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unbafflingadjective
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bafflinglyadverb
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unbafflinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bafflesimple
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bafflessimple
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have baffledperfect
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has baffledperfect
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am bafflingprogressive
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are bafflingprogressive
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is bafflingprogressive
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have been bafflingperfect progressive
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has been bafflingperfect progressive
Past
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baffledsimple
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had baffledperfect
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was bafflingprogressive
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were bafflingprogressive
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had been bafflingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of baffle
First recorded in 1540–50; 1910–15 baffle for def. 8; perhaps from Scots bauchle “to disgrace, treat with contempt,” equivalent to bauch ( see baff) + -le
Explanation
To baffle is to confuse. If you are completely puzzled as to what baffle means, you might say that this word baffles you. Baffle means "confuse," but it can also mean "amaze." A magician might baffle you with an impressive magic trick. Additionally, this verb can mean "to spoil, thwart, or defeat by means of confusion." In a debate, you might baffle the opposition by introducing new information that your opponents are not familiar with. Baffle can also be used like stump. If you are stumped by a question on a test, then you’ve been baffled by that question.
Vocabulary lists containing baffle
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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.
See Examples For:
Last year's attempt was ended in the most extraordinary style by Djokovic who, playing through the pain of a torn hamstring, used his nous to baffle Alcaraz and come through a four-set thriller.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
Eventually, Ver’s team and Bhirud hit on the deal that would baffle criminal tax experts.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
He empathizes with people born in the 1940s who feel irrelevant, since even 20-year-olds now baffle him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2025
The question of how these two—a vulgar revolutionary and a soft-spoken, polite epitome of the GOP old guard—have stayed together for so long, with such limited drama between them, can baffle observers.
From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2025
But it’s not the only way we baffle them.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Giant steel pipe’s mysterious overnight growth spurt baffles a Japanese city.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
Among them is Clarence Willard, billed in a 1920s Vaudeville advertisement as “the man who grows” and “completely baffles all medical and scientific experts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
The version of America to which they return, where rideshares and all-gender bathrooms are now the norm, baffles them.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2025
"And the manager right now, he baffles me with his tactics sometimes. I think he's completely lost in what he's trying to do."
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2025
After bringing the RTG into the Hab, I very carefully glued some tubing around the heat baffles.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
If you’re baffled by that choice, or Michelle Pfeiffer’s comedy supporting nod for “Margo” while getting nothing for carrying “The Madison,” you’re right to have very pointed questions.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
The incident has baffled some Rhode Islanders, who wonder why the state has proven incapable of getting a country club to remove a simple stone wall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
A fan from Paris though was baffled by the order to leave the stands.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
He admitted to being baffled as to why he had lost performance in recent races.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
Now, finally, the FBI was able to decipher the hollow nickel message that had baffled them for four years.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Now, markets are retreating in spectacular fashion, baffling executives and analysts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Even more baffling is the fact that just one week ago a mountain lion was found in a residential area of Santa Monica, which similarly prompted shelter-in-place warnings for people living nearby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
But it’s still baffling, to say the least.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
When Leath was charged with the murders of her two husbands a decade later, the confrontation with Walker made news again, but amounted to a baffling and salacious sideshow, its significance unclear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
He seemed to absorb the baffling paradoxes of quantum theory with ease.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
