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
It might help a few diligent users but would flummox others and probably be mostly ignored.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 10, 2023
"I'm thinking these lads have mixed themselves up to flummox us."
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
Once, in a fit of saltiness, I ask GiGi about the origin of its name, a question that flummoxes the bot.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
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 mass of names and relationships flummoxes even insiders in the novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2018
"Nobody flummoxes Hold-Your-Nose Billy and gets away with it!"
From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman
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
The causes of endometriosis have left our best doctors and scientists totally flummoxed: no-one in the world knows definitively how and when it begins in a woman's body.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
It’s a seemingly simple thing to set up, but when I asked him where he wanted to eat, he was flummoxed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
But even though these systems have mastered chess, conquered Go and unfolded nearly all of the known proteins in the universe, they were initially flummoxed by the mere concept of a bracket.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
She didn’t know how to answer and she looked at him, quite flummoxed.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Azevedo, known for flummoxing hitters with her drop ball while Garcia and Faraimo thrived with their rise ball, became the third option.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2022
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
But amid Levenson’s overhaul and director Stephen Chbosky’s grounded aesthetic — both of which fluctuate between fascinating and flummoxing — “Dear Evan Hansen’s” foundation thankfully survives the stage-to-screen remodeling.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 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.
