Definition of BEMUSEMENT

Are amused and bemused synonyms?

Many people link bemused with amused, believing that the former word carries the meaning “amused, with a touch of something else.” While this was not its original sense, bemused has been used in such a fashion for long enough, and by enough people, that the meaning “having feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing" has become established. You may use bemuse in this fashion if you wish, but bear in mind that some people find it objectionable, insisting that bemused and amused are entirely distinct and that bemused properly means “marked by confusion or bewilderment.” It is worth noting that before bemused indicated confusion it had the meaning (especially among poets) “devoted to the Muses.”

Did You Know?

In 1735, British poet Alexander Pope lamented, in rhyme, being besieged by "a parson much bemus'd in beer." The cleric in question was apparently one of a horde of would-be poets who plagued Pope with requests that he read their verses. Pope meant that the parson had found his muse - his inspiration - in beer. That use of bemus'd harks back to a 1705 letter in which Pope wrote of "Poets … irrecoverably Be-mus'd." In both letter and poem, Pope used bemused to allude to being inspired by or devoted to one of the Muses, the Greek sister goddesses of art, music, and literature. The lexicographers who followed him, however, interpreted "bemus'd in beer" as meaning "left confused by beer," and their confusion gave rise to the first modern sense of bemused above.

Examples of bemuse in a Sentence

a public that seemed more bemused by the shenanigans of celebrities than by a war being waged half a world away the stage mishap momentarily bemused the actress

Recent Examples on the Web

Canha was bemused about Sampson’s reaction to his homer. — Susan Slusser, SFChronicle.com, "A’s Mark Canha, Rangers’ Adrian Sampson rev up division rivalry," 9 June 2019 Scholze was bemused by the long theorems with their short proofs, which struck him as valid but insubstantial. — Quanta Magazine, "Titans of Mathematics Clash Over Epic Proof of ABC Conjecture," 20 Sep. 2018 Several team executives were bemused by his decision to leave the combine entirely, after spending an entire year away from basketball. — Jeremy Woo, SI.com, "Draft Dispatch: Combine Standouts, Buzz and Luka Doncic’s Potential Return to Europe," 17 May 2018 Customers should be advised to bring semaphores in order to gain the attention of the waitstaff, which seems unaccustomed to any action at all and slightly bemused to encounter actual humans in their midst. — Fox, Town & Country, "A Table for Mr. Fox," 21 Nov. 2012 Laughing staff and other drivers were bemused to see the toddler place his order from the miniature car. — Fox News, "2-year-old motorist uses McDonald's drive-thru and Ronald ain't lovin' it," 25 Apr. 2018 They were initially bemused by the complexity of bus timetables, bin collections and—most of all—by the changeable weather. — The Economist, "A Welsh town shows Britain a new way to welcome refugees," 5 July 2018 Even a rookie defender offered his opinion as Kerr watched bemused. — Michael Powell, New York Times, "You Knew the Warriors Were Coming Back. The Rockets Did, Too.," 29 May 2018 Samuel Umtiti then gifted the Socceroos a chance to equalise with a bemusing handball under very little pressure inside his own area. — SI.com, "World Cup Preview: France vs Peru - Recent Form, Previous Encounter, Team News, Predictions & More," 20 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bemuse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.