bewildered
[bih-wil-derd]
- completely puzzled or confused; perplexed.
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Origin of bewildered
bewilder
[bih-wil-der]
- to confuse or puzzle completely; perplex: These shifting attitudes bewilder me.
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Origin of bewilder
Synonyms
See more synonyms for bewilder on Thesaurus.commystify, nonplus, confuse, daze, confound, stagger, muddle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bewildered
Contemporary Examples
The experience left Shultz bewildered: “Maybe we are crazy?”
How the Reagan White House Bungled Its Response to Iran-Contra RevelationsMalcolm Byrne
November 3, 2014
Bewildered adolescents, many of them accompanied by equally confused guardians, spill out into the hallway.
Five hours and loads of frustration later, the bewildered psychologist gave up.
He tells the bewildered Narnians: ‘I’m so very old: hundreds and hundreds of years old.
A puzzled cantor lifted his head up and a bewildered congregation turned their eyes to their leader.
Historical Examples
If he made me blind, may he not easily have bewildered her, and have been himself bewildered?
MalboneThomas Wentworth Higginson
She dragged him in a bewildered state of mind to the door, which she held open.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
"You're very kind," said Aunt Frank, with a sigh of bewildered relief.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
I knew that it was I myself, and not my mode of life, that bewildered her.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
A creature of hope and joy, the first draught of sorrow had bewildered her.
The White Old Maid (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
bewilder
- to confuse utterly; puzzle
- archaic to cause to become lost
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Word Origin
C17: see be-, wilder
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 bewildered
adj.
1680s, past participle adjective from bewilder (q.v.).
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bewilder
v.
1680s, from be- "thoroughly" + archaic wilder "lead astray, lure into the wilds," probably a back-formation of wilderness. An earlier word with the same sense was bewhape (early 14c.). Related: Bewildered; bewildering; bewilderingly.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper