stumped

American  

[stuhmpt] / stʌmpt /

adjective

1. completely at a loss; perplexed or nonplussed.

   The stumped officer could only stare at the strange object, trying to figure out what it might be.

2. reduced to a stump; truncated; lopped.

   Bowser was a small dog with a stumped tail.

   These hills are in fact the stumped remains of mountains millions of years old.

3. Chiefly Southern U.S. stubbed, as one’s toe.

   At the talk, someone in the audience joked, "A stumped toe is all I need as proof that matter is real!"

4. cleared of stumps.

   It was looking more and more impossible to get the recently cleared and stumped field ready for planting by April 26.

5. (of a crayon drawing, pencil rendering, etc.) toned or modified by means of a stump, a blunt-tipped tool made of tightly rolled paper, leather, etc..

   A stumped drawing by Willem de Kooning, almost rubbed out, inspired our interest in the process of reproduction.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of stump.

Other Word Forms

• unstumped
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stumped

First recorded in 1595–1605; 1840–45 stumped for def. 3; stump ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; stump ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

However she was denied a 10-wicket haul when Marianne Artur had Lindiwe Polaki, one of only three Lesotho batters to score a run, stumped to conclude the match.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

The viewing sessions got more serious after Cicero told his friends he went to a trivia night and was stumped by a question on the license plate on Jerry’s Saab convertible.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

But even they may be stumped when faced with the gargantuan challenge of coming up with a deserving story to encapsulate the unique feat of producing 500 episodes of television.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Ravindra had a charging Kusal Mendis stumped and then removed Pavan Rathnayake in similar fashion in the same over as the sellout crowd was stunned into silence.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

For once in my eleven years, I think I have my dad stumped.

From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor