Synonyms

faze

American

[feyz] / feɪz /

verb (used with object)

fazed, fazing

to cause to be disturbed or disconcerted; daunt.

The worst insults cannot faze him.

Synonyms:

confound, fluster, perturb, discomfit, disconcert

faze British

/ feɪz /

verb

(tr) to disconcert; worry; disturb

"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

Etymology

Origin of faze

First recorded in 1820–30, dialectal form of feeze

Explanation

If nothing can faze you, you are unflappable. Nothing bothers you, or gets you off your game. To faze is to disrupt or disturb. Faze is a new word, descending from a word that meant to frighten away. At basketball games, when a player is shooting a foul shot, fans behind the net will try to faze the player by waving towels and making loud noise. They are trying to disturb him, so that he misses the kind of shot he's made thousands of times before.

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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.

The jabs don’t seem to faze Gorka, who tells a story of standing outside the White House in January 2025, ready to swipe his badge the moment it was activated after Trump’s swearing-in.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

That’s why the growing hardship number, while dramatic, doesn’t necessarily faze experts yet.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

Playing in Australia is unlikely to faze the North Korean players, who receive "political training" to cope with being in a foreign country, according to Edinburgh University's Lee.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026