flustered
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flustered
Explanation
To be flustered is to lose your cool. When you're flustered, you're embarrassed, agitated, or just confused. If your pants fell down in the middle of class while you were giving a presentation, you'd probably be flustered: highly embarrassed, out of breath, and a little freaked out. It's hard to concentrate when you're flustered — it's a distracting state of mind. Being flustered isn't quite as bad as being panicked, but it's close. People can also get flustered by good things, like if someone you had a crush on kissed you.
Vocabulary lists containing flustered
The Giver
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The City of Ember
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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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.
Her first briefing on Tuesday lasted only 14 minutes as she took questions from just three reporters at Breitbart, Fox News and the Daily Mail, appearing flustered and disorganized.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
If this were still the primary, Raman would have flustered her way to a non-answer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
We looked flustered, disorganised, can't defend and can't score.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Midway through, a flustered young man strolling past turned to a trio of gray-haired protesters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
She hid under a mop of tangled hair, and her ruddy white cheeks made her look flustered.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
