Synonyms

baffled

American

[baf-uhld] / ˈbæf əld /

adjective

bewildered or perplexed; puzzled.

I went to bed shaking my head, completely baffled and amazed at the strange turn the day had taken.
equipped with one or more baffles, or structures to obstruct the movement of fluids, sound, etc..

Any spraying operations shall be done within a baffled or enclosed area of the solvent cleaning machine.
thwarted.

“Every anarchist is a baffled dictator,” wrote Mussolini.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of anticipate.

Other Word Forms

unbaffled adjective

Etymology

Origin of baffled

baffle ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

Sitting in his dorm room at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Benjamin Brundage was closing in on a mystery that had even seasoned internet investigators baffled.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Yet this strangely compelling work has simultaneously beguiled and baffled art historians for generations, starting with the odd moment that Pontormo chose to depict in his innovative way, isolated from the rest of the narrative.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Head coach Danny Rohl was baffled his side were not given the chance to take all three points from the penalty spot.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026

One told me: "We would say, 'Why don't you engage with women? Why wouldn't you engage with backbenchers?' They just looked utterly baffled - he wouldn't engage."

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2026

She pauses uncertainly, baffled by my lack of protocol as I rise from my chair and reach again for the wire headpiece.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

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