befuddle

[bih-fuhd-l]

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verb (used with object), be·fud·dled, be·fud·dling.

to confuse, as with glib statements or arguments: politicians befuddling the public with campaign promises.
to make stupidly drunk.

Origin of befuddle

First recorded in 1885–90; be- + fuddle

Related formsbe·fud·dler, nounbe·fud·dle·ment, noun

Synonyms for befuddle

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1. perplex, bewilder, baffle, daze, muddle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for befuddlement

puzzlement, stupor, confusion, discombobulation, bewilderment, fog, stupefaction, perplexity, bafflement, obfuscation

Examples from the Web for befuddlement

Contemporary Examples of befuddlement

One former Media Research Center employee reacted to the news with a deep sense of befuddlement, “I thought everyone knew it.”
Ex-Employees of Conservative Figure L. Brent Bozell Say He Didn’t Write His Books or Columns
Ben Jacobs
February 13, 2014
Still, I have heard more than a few people, of all races, shrug in some kind of befuddlement about what they are expected to feel.
South Africa Kicks Off Week Of Mourning Mandela
Mark Gevisser
December 9, 2013
This state of affairs is a source of befuddlement to Walmart executives.
Sad Face at Walmart
Daniel Gross
May 16, 2013

Historical Examples of befuddlement

But their befuddlement was only a tithe of that which struck Cleigh an hour later.
The Pagan Madonna
Harold MacGrath
The befuddlement of Antoine and the waiter who assisted him added to the general joy.
Lady Larkspur
Meredith Nicholson
She had only added to his befuddlement and he bent forward, soliciting some more lucid statement of her position.
A Hoosier Chronicle
Meredith Nicholson

British Dictionary definitions for befuddlement

befuddle

verb (tr)

to confuse, muddle, or perplex
to make stupid with drink

Derived Formsbefuddlement, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for befuddlement

befuddle

"confuse," 1873, from be- + fuddle; originally "to confuse with strong drink or opium" (by 1832). An earlier word in the same sense was begunk (1725). Related: Befuddled; befuddling.