blindfold

American  

[blahynd-fohld] / ˈblaɪndˌfoʊld /

verb (used with object)

• blindfolds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• blindfolded,
  past participle,  past
• blindfolding
  present participle

1. to prevent or occlude sight by covering (the eyes) with a cloth, bandage, or the like; cover the eyes of.

2. to impair the awareness or clear thinking of.

   Don't let their hospitality blindfold you to the true purpose of their invitation.

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noun

• blindfolds
  plural

1. a cloth or bandage put before the eyes to prevent seeing.

adjective

1. with the eyes covered.

   a blindfold test.

2. rash; unthinking.

   a blindfold denunciation before knowing the facts.

blindfold British  

/ ˈblaɪndˌfəʊld /

verb

1. to prevent (a person or animal) from seeing by covering (the eyes)

2. to prevent from perceiving or understanding

---

noun

1. a piece of cloth, bandage, etc, used to cover the eyes

2. any interference to sight

adjective

1. having the eyes covered with a cloth or bandage

2. chess not seeing the board and pieces

3. rash; inconsiderate

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unblindfolded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• blindfolds
  plural

Participles

• blindfolding
  present
• blindfolded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• blindfold
  simple
• blindfolds
  simple
• have blindfolded
  perfect
• has blindfolded
  perfect
• am blindfolding
  progressive
• are blindfolding
  progressive
• is blindfolding
  progressive
• have been blindfolding
  perfect progressive
• has been blindfolding
  perfect progressive

Past

• blindfolded
  simple
• had blindfolded
  perfect
• was blindfolding
  progressive
• were blindfolding
  progressive
• had been blindfolding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will blindfold
  simple
• will have blindfolded
  perfect
• will be blindfolding
  progressive
• will have been blindfolding
  perfect progressive

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blindfold blindfolds blindfolded blindfolding

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

“And the next gate, you can’t see it until you’re pretty much on top of it. You might as well put on a blindfold because you can’t see anything in front of you.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026

Their thrower could have found his jumper with a blindfold on.

From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2024

Kylie Minogue knows her way around a chorus blindfold - and Padam Padam gave her the perfect opportunity to show off those navigational skills.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2023

When I push the blindfold up, I find I’m in my old room at the Training Center.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Players are required to wear blindfolds for fairness.

From Barron's ● Nov. 23, 2025

But can they be sure, even without their blindfolds?

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 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

And so I slipped the keys within my waistcoat pocket and returned to the house to find blindfolds for the guests.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Down: It’s like playing the piano with the foot pedal, blindfolded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

The mother of the motorist who found the children told Portuguese media that one of the boys said they had been blindfolded and told to look for a hidden toy.

From Barron's ● May 23, 2026

"It's a bit like playing pin the tail on the donkey with us being partly blindfolded and there being very little donkey left for us to pin the tail on," Sherborne complained.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 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

And watching him walk away, I felt that I had missed part of the experience because of my eyes, because my eyes were made in Baltimore, because my eyes were blindfolded by fear.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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

Related Words

• curtain
• screen