Synonyms

bewilder

American

[bih-wil-der] / bɪˈwɪl dər /

verb (used with object)

to confuse or puzzle completely; perplex.

These shifting attitudes bewilder me.

Synonyms:

muddle, stagger, confound, daze, confuse, nonplus, mystify

bewilder British

/ bɪˈwɪldə /

verb

to confuse utterly; puzzle
archaic to cause to become lost

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

bewilderment noun

Etymology

Origin of bewilder

First recorded in 1675–85; be- + wilder ¹

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.

The creature was bewildered, and half flew and half plummeted downward, not close enough to the sail, landing with a thud on the wood of the boat.

From Literature

"They send such a bewildering amount of information through that a lay person couldn't understand it," he said.

From BBC

But Jareth and “Labyrinth” introduced a new generation to the magnitude of his bewildering, potent artistic sorcery.

From Salon

Last year, he beamed himself into the WEF from the White House, appearing before an audience of largely bewildered European executives just two days after his inauguration.

From BBC

So he was bewildered to find out that men his age have become the subject of ridicule online, mocked for shoehorning their way into styles associated with Gen Z and younger millennials.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023