discomfit
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to confuse and deject; disconcert.
to be discomfited by a question.
- Synonyms:
- disturb, embarrass, discompose
-
to frustrate the plans of; thwart; foil.
-
Archaic. to defeat utterly; rout.
The army was discomfited in every battle.
noun
verb
-
to make uneasy, confused, or embarrassed
-
to frustrate the plans or purpose of
-
archaic to defeat in battle
Other Word Forms
- discomfiter noun
- discomfiture noun
- undiscomfited adjective
Etymology
Origin of discomfit
1175–1225; Middle English < Anglo-French descunfit, Old French desconfit, past participle of desconfire, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + confire to make, accomplish < Latin conficere; confect
Explanation
To discomfit someone is to make them feel uncomfortable or upset. An easy way to discomfit another person is to use the age-old, childish trick of ignoring them. (Of course, we’re sure you would never do that, right? Right?) If you make someone blush, sweat, and generally want to disappear, you’ve discomfited her. Centuries ago, discomfit was used to mean “destroy completely in battle” — an experience that surely left the defeated armies feeling something more than mere discomfort. Some scholars have suggested that the contemporary meaning of discomfit arose due to confusion with the word discomfort. Don’t be discomfited by choosing the wrong word; use this word to mean “embarrass.”
Vocabulary lists containing discomfit
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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.
Warhol also embraced camp as a personal style, performing a theatrical effeminacy that equated to a strategic queerness designed to discomfit those among his contemporaries who held him to be "too swish."
From Salon • Feb. 19, 2022
And the spectacle of nonviolent suffering in a just cause had the potential to discomfit witnesses and render violent and intimidating reprisals less effective.
From Scientific American • Feb. 3, 2021
She raised a cry certain to discomfit partisans.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2020
It is not proselytising or alarmist to tell us the raw truth about what is happening to the world, however much it might discomfit us.
From The Guardian • Nov. 7, 2018
Falstaff and his trusty followers, Bardolph and Pistol, discomfit Dr. Caius, who comes to complain of having been robbed.
From The Opera A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions of all Works in the Modern Repertory. by Fuller-Maitland, J. A.
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.
