bewilder
Americanverb (used with object)
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bewilders,
present (3rd person singular)
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bewildered,
past participle, past
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bewildering
present participle
verb
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to confuse utterly; puzzle
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archaic to cause to become lost
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bewildersimple
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bewilderssimple
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have bewilderedperfect
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has bewilderedperfect
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am bewilderingprogressive
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are bewilderingprogressive
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is bewilderingprogressive
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have been bewilderingperfect progressive
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has been bewilderingperfect progressive
Past
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bewilderedsimple
-
had bewilderedperfect
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was bewilderingprogressive
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were bewilderingprogressive
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had been bewilderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bewilder
Explanation
To bewilder is to amaze, baffle, dumbfound, flummox, perplex, or stupefy. When you bewilder people, you confuse them. Bewilder is a fun-sounding word for confusion-causing. A complicated math problem will bewilder many students. A magician's tricks should bewilder the audience. Mystery stories should be a little bewildering, at least until the end. Sometimes, being bewildered has a more emotional element. If someone you know died in a freak accident, that would bewilder you in a very sad way.
Vocabulary lists containing bewilder
List 3
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Novel Study: The Outsiders, Chapters 1–5
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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.
See Examples For:
The absurdist’s power rests in their ability to befuddle and bewilder, trusting the joke will land with the right folks and insult their target’s intelligence.
From Salon ● May 21, 2026
Essential to a wilderness is its capacity to bewilder, and though certain of Church’s colleagues in the Hudson River group, notably Worthington Whittredge, brilliantly captured this dense, enfolding quality, Church seldom did.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
If the soul of Leif Erikson were to materialize inside his statue for a day, much of what he saw would bewilder him.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
The real world may initially bewilder Barbie, but she figures it out.
From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2023
This was one more thing to bewilder everyone, especially the horseman.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
The variety of goals that the Japanese striker scores is astonishing, but all of them have one thing in common - speed of thought that bewilders the unfortunates tasked with the job of marking him.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2023
Basra continually bewilders experts, envoys and residents: How can a relatively stable province so rich in resources rank among the poorest and most under-developed in the country?
From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
Basra continually bewilders experts, envoys and residents: How can a relatively stable province so rich in resources rank among the poorest and most underdeveloped in the country?
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2023
In Herman Melville’s 1853 short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” a Wall Street clerk bewilders his manager by politely refusing to do basic tasks, including leaving the office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2022
The thought of him and the old forgery only bewilders my brain at this juncture.
From The Ivory Gate, a new edition by Sir Walter Besant
Other times, I was interviewing believers and, more often, their bewildered loved ones.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The bewildered CEO was reminded that she had asked a question on the deck’s topic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Birds and other animals, bewildered by unforeseen night, start behaving strangely.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
At first, I was pleasantly surprised, if a little bewildered because of who they came from.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Anh sat with a bewildered, stunned look on her face.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Private funds can carry hefty, highly variable, often bewildering fees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
One of the more bewildering primary results of the year came this week in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, a swing seat currently represented by Democratic freshman Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
While border officials contact authorities nationwide to verify the identity of those who don't have any form of ID, the process for newly arrived Afghans can be bewildering.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
In the real world there is a bewildering array of outcomes to any action, which requires a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
There’s this whole new world of bewildering situations.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
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.
