bemused

adjective

be·​mused bi-ˈmyüzd 

bē-

1

: marked by confusion or bewilderment : dazed

… he was fumbling with the sheets, and looking down at them with a slightly bemused expression as though the stuff before him was in a foreign language …

—Robert Penn Warren

2

: lost in thought or reverie

… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.

—Michael Straight

3

: having or showing feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing

This is not another of those now popular books about a bemused outsider's sojourn in rural France, brimming with colorful locals and heart-warming anecdotes.

—J. D. McClatchy

bemusedly

bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 

bē-

adverb

Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.

—J. K. Rowling

Synonyms

• addle
• addled
• addlepated
• bedeviled
• befogged
• befuddled
• bewildered
• bushed [chiefly Australian]
• confounded
• confused
• dazed
• distracted
• dizzy
• dopey
• dopy
• fogged
• mixed-up
• muddleheaded
• muzzy
• pixilated
• pixillated
• punch-drunk
• punchy
• raddled
• shell-shocked
• silly
• slaphappy
• spaced-out
• spaced
• spacey
• spacy
• stunned
• stupefied
• zonked
• zonked-out

Examples of bemused in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This magazine’s own Roger Angell shifted that mode into unapologetic fandom, in which the point was not to be an insider at all but to watch from a perspective as bemused and engaged as that of Henry James watching Daisy Miller—empathy without undue explication. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024

And yet Gauff seemed to close out the week in a state of bemused resignation. —Abby Aguirre, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2024

Indeed, their responses range from complete indifference to feigning slumber to bemused bewilderment to outright hostility from a young blonde boy, who stands up and boos at song’s end. —Spin Staff, SPIN, 25 Jan. 2024

Moyer, at least, brings a reptilian menace that’s distinct from Ian McShane’s bemused stoicism in the 2000 version. —Alison Herman, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024

For now, while some people expressed deep discomfort from someone imitating Attenborough's voice without permission, many others seem bemused by the demo. —Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 16 Nov. 2023

On Tuesday, after a group of Republicans walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine, Murphy addressed the press from the Capitol Rotunda with a look of bemused outrage. —Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2023

Hess depicted Watt before a map of the United States wearing a bemused expression and sporting oversized white glasses. —Angelica Aboulhosn, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Nov. 2023

Almost all of Mobius’ folksy, amiably bemused charm comes from Wilson. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined at sense 1