disorient

[ dis-awr-ee-ent, -ohr- ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to lose one's way:

   The strange streets disoriented him.

2. to confuse by removing or obscuring something that has guided a person, group, or culture, as customs, moral standards, etc.:

   Society has been disoriented by changing values.

3. Psychiatry. to cause to lose perception of time, place, or one's personal identity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of disorient¹

1645–55; < French désorienter, equivalent to dés- dis- ¹ + orienter to orient

Example Sentences

All this artful excess seems intended to disorient and disinhibit guests descending from the busy theater district above.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• amaze
• astonish
• baffle
• befuddle
• bemuse
• complicate
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• daze
• demoralize
• disconcert
• distract
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• involve
• misinform
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• muddle
• mystify