Showing results for "discombobulated"

• past tense form of discombobulate.
• past participle of discombobulate.

discombobulated

American  

[dis-kuhm-bob-yuh-lay-tid] / ˌdɪs kəmˈbɒb jəˌleɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. Informal. confused, disconcerted, or upset.

   Everything about my morning was discombobulated and strange.

   The quarterback was under constant pressure—he was sacked three times—and looked discombobulated as a result.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of discombobulate.

Etymology

Origin of discombobulated

discombobulate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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Explanation

If you're discombobulated, you're confused or thrown off-kilter. A discombobulated soccer player might run the wrong way down the field and kick the ball into her own team's goal. You'll probably feel a little discombobulated after moving to a new country, especially if it's on the other side of the world. Likewise, if you rearrange your backyard chicken coop, you're bound to have some discombobulated chickens for a while. This early 19th century word was first used in America, and it had a few different spellings, including discombobricate, before it became standardized.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

discombobulated

Bryan’s character is a big part of the movie’s appeal; he’s a scruffy, discombobulated everyman who figures out solutions on the fly, not a boringly cool and composed slaying machine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

My relationship with self-care is already so discombobulated.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

Moving sharply, Djokovic used his superior tennis IQ to carefully construct points in a way which Alcaraz could not compute - similar to how he discombobulated the Spaniard in last year's quarter-finals.

From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026

“Hart states he was discombobulated and not in control of his actions but implies that Sabbag was aware of the camera’s placement. Hart suggests Sabbag knew where to position herself and Hart to be recorded.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2024

It’s funny the way I remember my time in France: little vignettes, discombobulated, a narrative drifting along an ocean, a series of scenes that meant nothing until they meant something.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

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