baffle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to confuse, bewilder, or perplex.
He was baffled by the technical language of the instructions.
-
to frustrate or confound; thwart by creating confusion or bewilderment.
-
to check or deflect the movement of (sound, light, fluids, etc.).
-
to equip with a baffle or baffles.
-
Obsolete. to cheat; trick.
verb (used without object)
noun
-
something that balks, checks, or deflects.
-
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.
-
any boxlike enclosure or flat panel for mounting a loudspeaker.
verb
-
to perplex; bewilder; puzzle
-
to frustrate (plans, efforts, etc)
-
to check, restrain, or regulate (the flow of a fluid or the emission of sound or light)
-
to provide with a baffle
-
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.
Related Words
See thwart.
Other Word Forms
- bafflement noun
- baffler noun
- baffling adjective
- bafflingly adverb
- bafflingness noun
- unbaffling adjective
- unbafflingly adverb
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 ( baff ) + -le
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.
New England’s win—coupled with Buffalo’s baffling late loss to Philadelphia—returned the Patriots to their customary position atop the AFC East.
Other clients said they never had a problem with Kwatra and are baffled by the accusations.
But every year, as wrapping paper detonates across the living room and a small mountain of objects emerges—some beloved, some baffling—I have the same unseasonal thought: This is wildly inefficient.
What Mr. Puryear’s sculptures catch, however, are baffled viewers who might be wondering: Are his strange objects edifices, weapons or tools?
College football once leaned on bots, but it decided last decade to reintroduce the human element, which has only shown that mortals can make baffling, terrible decisions, too.
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.
