discomfit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to confuse and deject; disconcert.
to be discomfited by a question.
- Synonyms:
- disturb, embarrass, discompose
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to frustrate the plans of; thwart; foil.
-
Archaic. to defeat utterly; rout.
The army was discomfited in every battle.
noun
verb
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to make uneasy, confused, or embarrassed
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to frustrate the plans or purpose of
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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
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.
Once we move to the “Mother” sequence, we’ve started to acclimate to the movie’s discomfiting rhythms — which is good considering that, if anything, Timothea and Lilith’s relationship with their mom is even frostier.
From Los Angeles Times
And the revisions pertaining to Jocasta’s marriage to Laius, who was killed in a car accident decades before, bring a discomfiting and topical contemporary edge.
His calm and deadpan delivery of Teddy’s crazy talk gives it a discomfiting authority.
The author says Prescott was in a "class of his own when it came to discomfiting Charles".
From BBC
I came away from “Notes to John” feeling discomfited and saddened — though literary scholars may read it as providing context with which to deconstruct a great writer’s oeuvre.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
