Synonyms

dumbfound

American

[duhm-found, duhm-found] / dʌmˈfaʊnd, ˈdʌmˌfaʊnd /

Also dumbfounder, or dumfound

verb (used with object)

to make speechless with amazement; astonish.

Synonyms:

stagger, astound, confound, amaze

dumbfound British

/ dʌmˈfaʊnd /

verb

(tr) to strike dumb with astonishment; amaze

"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

Other Word Forms

dumbfounderment noun
dumfounderment noun

Etymology

Origin of dumbfound

First recorded in 1645–55; dumb + (con)found

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.

American skater Nathan Chen, the Beijing men's individual gold medallist, was dumbfounded, saying: "What a shock".

From Barron's

He said the volatility in recent weeks has left him and other investors feeling “awestruck and dumbfounded at times.”

From The Wall Street Journal

When you’re born and raised in the United States, American nationalism and English-language centrism are so deeply ingrained into the culture that watching an actor work in another tongue is dumbfounding.

From Salon

I was so dumbfounded by Flora’s words, I didn’t have enough sense to stop that child from taking my whole sack of lemon drops right out of my pocket.

From Literature

“Whether owing to that striking optimism or some other loftier force at work,” said family member Gregory Small, she had survived with pancreatic cancer for 12 years, a feat that left her doctors dumbfounded.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023