discombobulate

[ dis-kuhm-bob-yuh-leyt ]

See synonyms for: discombobulate discombobulated discombobulation on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing.

Informal. to confuse or disconcert; confound; bewilder: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.

Origin of discombobulate

An Americanism first recorded in 1825–35; fanciful alteration of discompose or discomfort

Other words for discombobulate

befuddle, dumbfound, nonplus; agitate, disturb, perturb, upset

See synonyms for discombobulate on Thesaurus.com

Other words from discombobulate

dis·com·bob·u·la·tion [dis-kuhm-bob-yuh-ley-shuhn], /ˌdɪs kəmˌbɒb yəˈleɪ ʃən/, noun

Words Nearby discombobulate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use discombobulate in a sentence

By celebrating and rearranging furniture, the revelers discombobulate the deceased so they don’t want to stay, ensuring the spirit crosses over.
‘Nine Night’ explores Jamaican custom of mourning | Patrick Folliard | January 5, 2022 | Washington Blade
Using their antennae, assassin bugs tap spiders, which appears to discombobulate the arachnids long enough to let the bugs make a toxic strike, researchers report September 29 in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Assassin bugs tap spiders to distract them before a lethal strike | Jake Buehler | October 28, 2021 | Science News
Yet as Tampa Bay discombobulated Kansas City in a 31-9 victory, the greatest statement wasn’t what Brady proved to his former team or anyone else wondering whether he still had it at age 43.
Tom Brady, the one-man dynasty, was Tampa Bay’s perfect missing piece | Jerry Brewer | February 8, 2021 | Washington Post
A personal assault by you on me will wake these people up and discombobulate Goldsmith.
A House-Boat on the Styx | John Kendrick Bangs
They may copy my style till all's blue, but they won't discombobulate me.
Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 99., September 20, 1890 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for discombobulate

discombobulate

/ (ˌdɪskəmˈbɒbjʊˌleɪt) /

verb

(tr) informal, mainly US and Canadian to throw into confusion

Origin of discombobulate

C20: probably a whimsical alteration of discompose or discomfit

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

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