Showing results for "boggle"

• a variation of bogle.

boggle

American  

[bog-uhl] / ˈbɒg əl /

verb (used with object)

• boggles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boggled,
  past participle,  past
• boggling
  present participle

1. to overwhelm or bewilder, as with magnitude, complexity, or strangeness.

   The speed of light boggles the mind.

2. to bungle; botch.

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verb (used without object)

• boggles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boggled,
  past participle,  past
• boggling
  present participle

1. to hesitate or waver because of scruples, fear, etc.

2. to start or jump with fear, alarm, or surprise; shrink; shy.

3. to bungle awkwardly.

4. to be overwhelmed or bewildered.

noun

1. an act of shying or taking alarm.

2. a mess; a bungle or botch.

3. Archaic. a scruple; demur; hesitation.

boggle British  

/ ˈbɒɡəl /

verb

1. to be surprised, confused, or alarmed (esp in the phrase the mind boggles )

2. to hesitate or be evasive when confronted with a problem

3. (tr) to baffle; bewilder; puzzle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bogglingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• boggling
  present
• boggled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• boggle
  simple
• boggles
  simple
• have boggled
  perfect
• has boggled
  perfect
• am boggling
  progressive
• are boggling
  progressive
• is boggling
  progressive
• have been boggling
  perfect progressive
• has been boggling
  perfect progressive

Past

• boggled
  simple
• had boggled
  perfect
• was boggling
  progressive
• were boggling
  progressive
• had been boggling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will boggle
  simple
• will have boggled
  perfect
• will be boggling
  progressive
• will have been boggling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of boggle

First recorded in 1590–1600; perhaps from bogle

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Explanation

To boggle is to amaze, astonish, or overwhelm. Your mind might boggle at all the information your physics teacher writes on the board on the first day of class. You'll most likely find this verb in sentences like "My brain boggles at the outfit she decided to wear to the party," or "When you watch this movie, your mind will boggle at the special effects." Along with the even more common adjective mind-boggling, boggle comes from the Middle English bugge, or "specter." Boggle originally meant "spook," or "start with fright."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

boggle boggles boggled boggling

They often feature steam-bent wood that makes my mind boggle when I visit, with its twists and turns.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025

But Santos’ wardrobe, and his ability to ape an archetype, is a testament to just how much appearance can boggle the mind.

From Slate ● May 16, 2023

Still, it would boggle my mind if this enthralling masterpiece is overlooked when nominations are announced next month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2022

It might boggle the mind, but I wonder if Beyoncé's approach to women's empowerment shows that even Black women can have white feminist leanings.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2021

And the Roumanians, who have already annexed enormous Magyar and German populations in Transylvania, do not boggle at another 80,000 foreigners.

From The Birth of Yugoslavia, Volume 2 by Henry Baerlein

“Every single person is valuable. Every family is valuable. It boggles the mind that the attorney general would want to take this option away from so many people.”

From Slate ● May 13, 2026

That’s on top of the 16 gigawatts of deals announced in the last three weeks, with AMD and Nvidia—a scale of computing power that boggles the mind.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

What possessed the stadium 'entertainment' people to play Sweet Caroline as Ryan was being tended to boggles the mind.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025

To think this is Sarr’s acting debut boggles the mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2024

It boggles me trying to think how Julie managed to communicate all this with the Gestapo captain listening.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

But the bigger “this,” the one that really boggled them, was the fact that they were embarking on a monthslong awards campaign to begin with.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2022

“I’d invite him in,” she lamely replied, boggled as to what they were looking for.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2021

Yet my previous audio immersions in Joyce assured me that the text my eyes boggled at, my ears could relish.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2021

“He was so good in it, it kind of boggled our mind that people haven’t used Ray in movies more,” said Barry Mendel, one of the producers on both movies.

From Slate ● May 4, 2021

My imagination boggled at the punishment I would deserve if in fact I did abuse a book of Mrs. Flowers’.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

We felt lucky, but Chris now is dealing with it again, which is mind boggling and so depressing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

Skip boggling digital noise machines with 50+ whale sounds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

Brad Gooch, author of recent official Haring biography, Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, saw Luna Luna being reconstructed, describing the feat as "mind boggling."

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024

Eco-disaster figures are always so mind boggling, it’s easy to block them out as too big a problem for a single individual to consider.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2024

His boggling eyes joined a townful of others aimed at a spot just above Palmer’s forehead.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli

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