bewildering

adjective

be·​wil·​der·​ing bi-ˈwil-d(ə-)riŋ How to pronounce bewildering (audio)
bē-
: extremely confusing or difficult to understand
an utterly bewildering experience
a bewildering number of possibilities
… a place of odd traditions and bewildering practices.David Williamson
bewilderingly adverb
a bewilderingly complex situation

Examples of bewildering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Hieu initially found the city bewildering and felt homesick, but slowly the city grew on him. Aniruddha Ghosal, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 The technology is bewildering, producing results that can seem magical and brilliant one moment and inept and dangerously wrong the next. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 The DoD’s ground autonomy programs can be bewildering to outsiders. Richard Bishop, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024 These come in a bewildering array of sizes and functions, and the items themselves are often obscured by packaging. Roger Dooley, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Medical billing is often a universally bewildering experience. Elizabeth B. Kim, The Enquirer, 4 Feb. 2024 The film brought to a larger audience the bewildering saga of the Morrisseau hoaxes, the various lawsuits, and the allegations involving Voss and Lamont. Jordan Michael Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024 Decision-making occurs through a slow and sometimes bewildering committee process, with minimal input or consensus from the family. Matthew Erskine, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 In 1969, Monty Python's Flying Circus revolutionized sketch comedy with a bewildering mix of surreal satire, witty wordplay, and beguiling nonsense. Danny Horn, EW.com, 24 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bewildering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bewildering was in 1761

Dictionary Entries Near bewildering

Cite this Entry

“Bewildering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bewildering. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

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