blindfold
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to prevent or occlude sight by covering (the eyes) with a cloth, bandage, or the like; cover the eyes of.
-
to impair the awareness or clear thinking of.
Don't let their hospitality blindfold you to the true purpose of their invitation.
noun
adjective
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with the eyes covered.
a blindfold test.
-
rash; unthinking.
a blindfold denunciation before knowing the facts.
verb
-
to prevent (a person or animal) from seeing by covering (the eyes)
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to prevent from perceiving or understanding
noun
-
a piece of cloth, bandage, etc, used to cover the eyes
-
any interference to sight
adjective
-
having the eyes covered with a cloth or bandage
-
chess not seeing the board and pieces
-
rash; inconsiderate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
blindfoldsimple
-
blindfoldssimple
-
have blindfoldedperfect
-
has blindfoldedperfect
-
am blindfoldingprogressive
-
are blindfoldingprogressive
-
is blindfoldingprogressive
-
have been blindfoldingperfect progressive
-
has been blindfoldingperfect progressive
Past
-
blindfoldedsimple
-
had blindfoldedperfect
-
was blindfoldingprogressive
-
were blindfoldingprogressive
-
had been blindfoldingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blindfold
1520–30; alteration, by association with fold 1, of blindfell to cover the eyes, strike blind, Middle English blindfellen; see blind, fell 2
Explanation
A blindfold is a strip of fabric that's tied across your eyes so you can't see. At a birthday party, you might wear a blindfold and attempt to pin a paper tail on a picture of a donkey. A bank robber might blindfold a hostage, and a kindergarten teacher might also tie a blindfold on the birthday boy during a party game. In both cases, the blindfold makes the person unable to see what's going on. The earliest, 14th century version of the word was blindfelled, the past participle of blindfellan, "cover the eyes," from the Old English blindfellian, "to strike blind."
Vocabulary lists containing blindfold
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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:
Even those who won in the ballot did so with the blindfold on - at no stage was a pricing structure published.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
The host handed me a blindfold and Bose noise-canceling headphones, playing the hypnotic sounds of a space drum with birds chirping in the distance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
One woman I interviewed remembered that while she was blindfolded, she was able to peek under her blindfold and see a tile pattern on the floor.
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2026
He added that his blindfold - the trademark black jihadist flag - was then removed.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024
He surfaced, spluttering and tugging off the blindfold.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
They are required to wear blindfolds for fairness.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
The far easier solution is for them to take off their blindfolds and see the full scale of the monstrosity for what it is.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
All it took were Hollywood-trained animals, a set of enormous blindfolds and a willingness to — carefully — nudge one of the planet’s largest land mammals ever so slightly off balance.
From New York Times ● Sep. 26, 2023
Lucy Edwards, the popular blind TikToker, surprised guests at her wedding by giving them blindfolds so they could share in her experience walking down the aisle.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2023
Then S.Q. was removing their blindfolds and pressing the intercom button.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Down: It’s like playing the piano with the foot pedal, blindfolded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
"What are you going to tell me next? He's going to play blindfolded and he's going to win it also?"
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
Both were blindfolded, but Issa recognized his friend’s voice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
One woman I interviewed remembered that while she was blindfolded, she was able to peek under her blindfold and see a tile pattern on the floor.
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2026
If they suddenly rose up into a terrain full of valleys and peaks, she would be able to travel them blindfolded.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
I started by blindfolding myself and quickly realized that made my notes incoherent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025
Japan has accused Russia's security services of blindfolding and restraining one of its diplomats in the eastern city of Vladivostok.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2022
And this idea of essentially blindfolding ourselves and pretending like the justice system is the one place in this country where race has no influence whatsoever, where gender and bias mean nothing, that's preposterous.
From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2022
Evidence in the blindfolding trial has included phone chat messages exchanged by several Carabinieri.
From Fox News ● Feb. 10, 2022
The blindfolding, the walk to the secret entrance, the exhausting climb up countless steps—all of it seemed to pass in one excruciating instant.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
