baffled
Americanadjective
-
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
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of baffled
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.
Vocabulary lists containing baffled
Similes from Top AP English Exam Novels
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A Long Way Gone
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
Baffled real-estate agents kept showing him acreage with mansions and landing strips, “and I said, ‘You got me all wrong,’ ” Bamberger told NPR.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
Baffled by the “lines of light floating in mid-air”, Scottish photographer David Gilliver knew he had to try capturing them with his camera.
From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024
Baffled, she told him that the wardrobe department surely could afford a high-end custom hairpiece.
From New York Times • Apr. 24, 2024
Baffled, she asked whom she had threatened, and was told it was someone on the day shift.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2022
Baffled by the word "court," the lawyer set the envelope on the desk and found his way out of Sunset Towers.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
