baffled

American  

[baf-uhld] / ˈbæf əld /

adjective

1. bewildered or perplexed; puzzled.

   I went to bed shaking my head, completely baffled and amazed at the strange turn the day had taken.

2. 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.

3. thwarted.

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

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of anticipate.

Other Word Forms

• unbaffled adjective

Etymology

Origin of baffled

baffle ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

When you're baffled, you're confused or perplexed. Being baffled is being befuddled, bewildered, confounded, or mixed up. If you're baffled, you can't understand something. Some people are baffled by math; others are baffled by things celebrities do. Some are baffled at why anyone would care what celebrities do. Sometimes when you're baffled, you genuinely can't figure something out, and other times, you just disapprove. For example, a teacher could say, "I'm baffled that you missed the test!" As long as the world is full of odd things, we'll all spend part of our lives baffled.

Example Sentences

In a federal courthouse in Los Angeles last spring, Judge Otis Wright II, a no-nonsense former Marine, was baffled by what he was hearing from the prosecutor before him.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026

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

Xavi Simons' relegation to the bench baffled seasoned Spurs viewers, following his best performance and two goals in Wednesday's win over Atletico.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

It’s a weird premise to be sure, but that Anderson is baffled by any millennial media is both charming and part of the fun.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

“Though you seem to be baffled by the clues to our current case, Nell, and that surprises me. Perhaps you were too distracted tracking down your daddy’s story to pay close attention to this one.”

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Related Words

• astonished
• awed
• befuddled
• dazed
• mystified
• perplexed
• puzzled
• rattled
• shocked
• startled
• stunned
• surprised