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:
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
Fans are entitled to expect the technology to reduce the errors by highlighting the obvious mistakes, not baffle them with science.
From BBC ● May 6, 2024
But it is just this demand—- the requirement that citizens find ways to navigate a social world which will, necessarily, often baffle and horrify them—- that liberal societies must impose.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2023
“The things we know; the things we think we know but don’t know for sure; and the things that totally baffle us and are driving us bonkers.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Giant steel pipe’s mysterious overnight growth spurt baffles a Japanese city.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
That said, the Recording Academy never goes too long without making a choice that baffles everybody, as when Jon Batiste beat Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026
“Sometimes it baffles us,” said chief prosecutor Hsing Tai-chao.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
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
There is much about Chris that still baffles him and always will, but now he is a little less baffled.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
What’s more, many dealers remain baffled that Polestar wasn’t able to obtain the OK to keep selling in the U.S. when Volvo was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Ashley Baxter said he was "baffled, disappointed and outraged" by the situation and said his council would explore ways of overturning the decision.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Four years later, he’s no less baffled to have become the subject of a new documentary, “Peter Asher: Everywhere Man,” directed by the filmmakers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
A fan from Paris though was baffled by the order to leave the stands.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
I looked up at him, still baffled, and he held a finger to his lips and silently slipped over the edge of the fountain and into the water, dragging me behind him.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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
Turner said she found it "baffling" that she must pay 50% more than dog walkers to use the park, despite the fact that dog walking businesses use the park more frequently.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
By performing many transpositions on the same plaintext, and shuffling the columns, you can create a baffling message.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
