fluster
Americanverb (used with object)
-
flusters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flustered,
past participle, past
-
flustering
present participle
-
to put into a state of agitated confusion.
His constant criticism flustered me.
- Synonyms:
- disturb, disconcert, bewilder, upset
-
to excite and confuse with drink.
verb (used without object)
-
flusters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
flustered,
past participle, past
-
flustering
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
flustersimple
-
flusterssimple
-
have flusteredperfect
-
has flusteredperfect
-
am flusteringprogressive
-
are flusteringprogressive
-
is flusteringprogressive
-
have been flusteringperfect progressive
-
has been flusteringperfect progressive
Past
-
flusteredsimple
-
had flusteredperfect
-
was flusteringprogressive
-
were flusteringprogressive
-
had been flusteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fluster
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English flostren; cf. bluster, Old Norse flaustra “to hurry”
Explanation
To fluster someone is to make them feel upset or agitated. There are many things that might fluster you: giving a speech in front of the whole school, solving a challenging math problem, or even getting a love note from an admirer. If your coworker is about to give the biggest presentation of his life, you’ll probably only fluster, or upset, him if you point out that his socks don’t match. Use the adjective form, flustered, to describe someone when they’re feeling this way. Most of us get flustered once in a while, but if you’re “easily flustered,” it happens to you quite often. Don’t worry, though; that just gives you more opportunities to practice using this vocabulary word.
Vocabulary lists containing fluster
The Hobbit
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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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:
The defending champion is part of a seven-way tie for the first-round lead after plotting a three-under round of 67 which encapsulated his ability to play with relentless diligence and barely a flicker of fluster.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Every time, he managed to fluster me anyway.
From Slate ● May 27, 2023
Throughout the attempts, I was also struck that nothing seemed to fluster the AI.
From Scientific American ● May 25, 2023
The Terrapins were on their heels in the second quarter, when Notre Dame used a 13-0 run to take a 27-19 lead as its zone seemed to fluster Maryland.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 25, 2023
The fluster that I felt back in the station has developed into irritation here on the train, now that I can’t so easily walk away.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The story is simple: The dad flusters, fidgets and whines; the girl gobbles room service as though aspiring to become human foie gras.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
"Nothing ever flusters Finn," says Scotland team-mate Kyle Steyn.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Not even her obliteration of such sacred territory as replacing Paul's traditional family tree with a bigger one flusters him, even though he didn't ask.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2022
If Geno Smith can continue his hot start and the defense flusters Trey Lance like the Bears did last week, it’s a game they could win.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2022
When I erupt , my sonic boom flusters and splinters quiet .
From NATURAE by Dom
Not while he’s flustered and frustrated — which you can’t spell without rust, though even Roberts admitted, “I don’t know how long you can use the rust thing, which I’ve certainly used.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Instead, he seemed a good, flustered company man anxiously determined to be normal—like Dick Van Dyke, perhaps, or Bob Newhart—while remaining very funny indeed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
A test followed with the flustered pigeons flying off, convincing the club owners, and Hamish, a Harris hawk, became a fixture at the two-week championships.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
“Let me put on some clothes first,” she told the nurse, flustered.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
A flustered maid put him in the parlor.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Maybe knowing so many people is behind his sweating, flustering, and giggling.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2025
Even now I couldn’t tell what Harry wanted from me, or whether flustering me was just part of his fun.
From Slate ● May 27, 2023
They lost three of their final four, including a flustering defeat at lowly Houston on a day when both teams’ rosters were decimated by COVID-19.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
But the Cavaliers permitted just four points the rest of the way, flustering Providence into 1-for-18 shooting down the stretch.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 23, 2021
Mrs. van Geist came flustering out to the carriage.
From The Spenders A Tale of the Third Generation by Harry Leon Wilson
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.
