baffled

adjective

baf·​fled ˈba-fəld 

1

: extremely confused or puzzled

… his explanation of a piano's key action will leave you more baffled than before.

—Martin Levine

Molecular biologists became even more baffled when they looked at the messenger RNAs: many of the molecules were longer than the DNA from which they had been transcribed.

—John Rennie

In Miss Kate's eyes there was a troubled, baffled look …

—Edna Ferber

We have all heard novelists testify to the fact that, beginning a new book, they are utterly baffled as to how to proceed …

—Donald Barthelme

2

: equipped with a baffle

Ventilation openings are baffled to prevent stray light from reaching the operator's eyes …

—Bausch & Lomb Catalog

A baffled fuel cell keeps the weight in place.

—Kevin Falvey

Synonyms

• confounded
• hard put
• hard-pressed
• nonplussed
• nonplused
• perplexed

Examples of baffled in a Sentence

baffled viewers didn't know what to make of the strange antics of the talk show host

Recent Examples on the Web

Fans, of course, remain baffled and angry and depressed over the lack of any visible progress on Martin’s sixth A Song Of Ice And Fire novel, The Winds Of Winter. —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025

The Tensor series uses a double layer of reflective film insulation, with a baffled air chamber design, which helps keep it quiet. —Scott Gilbertson, Wired News, 22 May 2025

Delap’s cannon shoulders struck fear into a baffled division, like a medieval army who looked across the battlefield and realised that the opposing forces had technology far beyond theirs. —Nick Miller, New York Times, 22 May 2025

Kind, baffled but game, gets roped into the dada humor. —Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 11 May 2025

Chasing perfection this offseason required Webb to tweak the pitch that, ironically, most baffled hitters. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2025

Surrounding the headliners are grumpy arena security, who spend the night wearing baffled expressions watching a sea of adults cheer and laugh and applaud over imaginary characters engaged in battles no one can actually see, and rolls of acrylic dice just 16 millimeters in size. —Eric Francisco, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025

Now, a development that once baffled educators and administrators is ready to go mainstream. —Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 31 Dec. 2024

Other stories explore similar themes in equally bizarre situations: In 1880s London, a very suave Joseph Merrick, aka The Elephant Man, flirts shamelessly with the smitten wife of his very baffled doctor (Goldsberry and Kind, respectively). —Greg Evans, Deadline, 22 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for baffled

• scaffold