bedazzle
Americanverb (used with object)
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bedazzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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bedazzled,
past participle, past
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bedazzling
present participle
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to impress forcefully, especially so as to make oblivious to faults or shortcomings.
Audiences were bedazzled by her charm.
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to dazzle so as to blind or confuse.
The glare of the headlights bedazzled him.
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to adorn with features that are brilliant, sparkly, splendid, etc..
You don’t need to bedazzle your business card with glitter, but does it stand out from the crowd?
Both the wealthy and the common flapper could bedazzle themselves in the popular long necklaces of the day.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bedazzlesimple
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bedazzlessimple
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have bedazzledperfect
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has bedazzledperfect
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am bedazzlingprogressive
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are bedazzlingprogressive
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is bedazzlingprogressive
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have been bedazzlingperfect progressive
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has been bedazzlingperfect progressive
Past
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bedazzledsimple
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had bedazzledperfect
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was bedazzlingprogressive
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were bedazzlingprogressive
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had been bedazzlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bedazzle
Explanation
To bedazzle is to charm or impress someone, sometimes to the extent that they feel confused or overwhelmed. A charismatic speaker might bedazzle her audience so much that they all want to buy her new book. Something can literally bedazzle you, or blind you a little bit: the sun glinting off the ocean around your sailboat might bedazzle you. It's more common, however, to find this verb used in a figurative way, when a person amazes or impresses you. The root of bedazzle, the Middle English dasen, or "daze," possibly stems from the Middle Dutch word of the same spelling, which means "act silly."
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:
Especially the marvelous starry seed heads of A. christophii and A. schubertii that are durable enough to bedazzle the garden all summer.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2022
It's an unexpectedly sentimental exercise to take stock of how you bedazzle, spice, umami and sweeten your eating life — almost like paging through old photo albums.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2022
There are dozens of other such reincarnations, and they simultaneously bedazzle and befuddle.
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2022
But if not I got my mom ready to bedazzle my mask.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2020
She had hunted out the seed shops to taste their lichees, various as wines, and bought a sack that was taller than a child to bedazzle the nieces and nephews.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
“Behold a Broadway musical that sings, dances and bedazzles so magnetically, it feels as if it were ordained for the screen by divine providence. ‘
From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2022
Behold a Broadway musical that sings, dances and bedazzles so magnetically, it feels as if it were ordained for the screen by divine providence.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2022
Like most of the artist’s biggest successes, it takes an older, already-beloved song and then samples, bedazzles and interpolates it into a conversation among multiple languages, nationalities and cultures.
From New York Times ● Mar. 10, 2016
She nudges the English to give it a Cuban tone, respectful of the brutal efficiency of Mr. Padura’s Spanish, while never sacrificing the lyrical flourishes with which he occasionally bedazzles his readers.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2014
This spot, so very African, bedazzles you in the daytime with flashings as of steel.
From La Sorcière: The Witch of the Middle Ages by Jules Michelet
When she took up the oversized, bedazzled pair of scissors to cut the ribbon, two sturdy men made sure they had a firm hold on her.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Parton later quietly organized for Bandit to be surpised with a custom acoustic guitar, bedazzled with rhinestones and the words "To Brigitte, Love Dolly" scribbled across it.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
We are more than halfway through the North American installment of Gianni Infantino’s bedazzled global soccer smorgasbord, and even the ball-deflating soccer grinches among us must confess the action’s been…fairly irresistible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
But, in Fenet’s mind, nothing compares to the 2024 party, when she sold a Yamaha piano bedazzled with John’s face for $360,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
Her bedazzled toenails click on the tiled kitchen floor.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
A white paper bag, Speedee the chef and a bedazzling roadside memory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Speaking ahead of the final, Ghouri said her time on Strictly had been "an absolute dream, especially bedazzling my cochlear implant".
From BBC ● Dec. 13, 2024
My mother is his enabler, sewing the sequins onto his blue satin capes, bedazzling the ivory jumpsuit with the deep V-neck.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
But she is not without her still edgy approach, with a blaring, bedazzling score for violin, cello, clarinet/saxophone, trumpet, guitar and percussion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2022
She looked as pretty as she ever was, but not in any way different, not enchanting, not bedazzling in her daughters’ eyes, at least not in mine.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
