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flummox

[fluhm-uh ks]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flummox ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object) Informal.

to bewilder; confound; confuse.

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RELATED WORDS

mystify, confound, perplex, bewilder, discombobulate, nonplus, baffle, disconcert, puzzle, stump, throw, buffalo

Origin of flummox

First recorded in 1830–40; origin uncertain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flummox

Contemporary Examples of flummox

  • What wine to serve at Thanksgiving can flummox even the heartiest of gourmands.

    The Daily Beast logo
    The Best Thanksgiving Wines

    Sophie Menin

    November 19, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for flummox

flummox

verb

(tr) to perplex or bewilder

Word Origin for flummox

C19: of unknown origin
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
Word Origin and History for flummox
v.

1837, cant word, origin uncertain, probably from some forgotten British dialect. Candidates cluster in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, southern Cheshire and also in Sheffield. "The formation seems to be onomatopœic, expressive of the notion of throwing down roughly and untidily." Never let it be said that the OED editors lacked imagination. Related: Flummoxed.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper