flummox
Americanverb (used with object)
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flummoxes,
present (3rd person singular)
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flummoxed,
past participle, past
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flummoxing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flummoxsimple
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flummoxessimple
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have flummoxedperfect
-
has flummoxedperfect
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am flummoxingprogressive
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are flummoxingprogressive
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is flummoxingprogressive
-
have been flummoxingperfect progressive
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has been flummoxingperfect progressive
Past
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flummoxedsimple
-
had flummoxedperfect
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was flummoxingprogressive
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were flummoxingprogressive
-
had been flummoxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flummox
First recorded in 1830–40; origin uncertain
Explanation
Does the word flummox bewilder, confound, dumbfound and generally mystify you? Well, fear no more, because flummox means all of these things! Things that flummox you are probably not that serious, and often pretty amusing and informal: a TV remote or a crossword puzzle, for example, rather than something major like why your boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with you. (Now that's unfathomable.) Get this: linguists are actually mystified as to where the word flummox comes from — they're flummoxed, in other words. It may come from an old English word, flummock, meaning "to make untidy or confuse," but no one is really sure. Now, what could be more suitable?
Vocabulary lists containing flummox
The Hobbit
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It must have slipped my mind...
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Booked
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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.
See Examples For:
It has continued to flummox consumers in countries such as Spain and Italy, where "mermelada" and "marmellata" respectively are commonly used for spreads made from other kinds of fruit, such as plums and figs.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
That is roughly as much as Tesla and, if it happens, will flummox traditional aerospace and defense analysts just like Tesla’s valuation can upset traditional car people.
From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025
The provision is remarkably straightforward—a far cry from the ambiguous, sloppy, or muddled laws that typically flummox the judiciary.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2024
Keeping characters’ appearances consistent between shots is tough, they said; eyeballs continue to flummox the software.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
"I'm thinking these lads have mixed themselves up to flummox us."
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
How a city that built itself on imagination and self-promotion could miss an opportunity right in front of us — something the world would pay attention to — simply flummoxes me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2023
Becoming a threat with the deep ball will simply add a new wrinkle to Rising’s skillset, which routinely flummoxes defenses.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 9, 2022
That is one of the things that flummoxes many of the critics.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2019
The growing complexity of our financial lives flummoxes plenty of people, too.
From New York Times ● Apr. 3, 2015
"Nobody flummoxes Hold-Your-Nose Billy and gets away with it!"
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
Over in San Francisco, which faced down a severe heat wave in March, Google Weather users were left flummoxed by the charts of low-70s temps, way milder than the 90-degree record felt by downtown residents.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
The decision by the Sussexes to decamp from Montecito to England has flummoxed royal watchers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
With a manoeuvre as audacious as it was inspired, Robson-Kanu flummoxed three surrounding Belgian defenders with a Cruyff-turn before finishing supremely beyond Thibaut Courtois.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
The chief of detectives, Louis Cottell, for his part, made no effort to hide how flummoxed he was by the killer’s refusal to take credit.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Miss Mortimer stammered, flummoxed, for this was not the sort of reply one would expect from a Swanburne girl.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Lightly regarded during the preseason, the Huskies won their first 14 games, only to lose six of eight during a flummoxing midseason swoon.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2023
More than a month ago, when Olympic rosters were still coming into view, Sweden’s coach offered a plain-spoken assessment of a field whose fluidity and mystery were flummoxing men’s hockey executives around the world.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
Butler threw a stick into the spokes of Houston’s well-oiled machine to start the half, flummoxing the Cougars with a more aggressive defense.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2021
Kyogo feigned to shoot, flummoxing Miha Blazic, before switching the ball from right foot to left and finding the bottom corner.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2021
Wainwright pitched into the ninth inning that night at Busch Stadium, flummoxing the Dodgers with his pitch-to-soft-contact command before he was finally chased.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
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.
