bemuse

play

verb be·muse \ bi-ˈmyüz , bē- \

Definition of bemuse

transitive verb

1 :to make confused :puzzle, bewilder

2 :to occupy the attention of :distract, absorb

has bemused audiences around the world

3 :to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement

seems truly bemused that people beyond his circle in Seattle would be interested in his ruminations
—Ruth B. Smith

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bemusement

play \-ˈmyüz-mənt\ noun

See bemuse defined for English-language learners

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bemuse was our Word of the Day on 02/19/2017. Hear the podcast!

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 of bemuse from the Web

There’s a jauntiness to Newman’s stride in these songs, a mischievous twinkle in his sing-speak drawl that suggests an amalgam of Mose Allison, Allen Toussaint and bemused Mad magazine cover boy Alfred E. Neuman.

— greg kot, chicagotribune.com, "Review: Randy Newman still has much to say," 4 Aug. 2017
Heat on climate Perry generally exhibited a relaxed, if not bemused, demeanor throughout the questioning.

— david malakoff, Science | AAAS, "U.S. energy secretary steps carefully around budgetmakers in Congress," 23 June 2017
Heat on climate Perry generally exhibited a relaxed, if not bemused, demeanor throughout the questioning.

— david malakoff, Science | AAAS, "U.S. energy secretary steps carefully around budgetmakers in Congress," 23 June 2017
The wily (and bemused) Wallace even got Sekulow to say both that Trump is and is not under investigation.

— david a. graham, The Atlantic, "Trump's Self-Contradictory Defense," 19 June 2017
But the vast majority of spectators seemed to offer laughter and bemused encouragement to the riders.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "World Naked Bike Ride 2017 streaks through the French Quarter," 10 June 2017
ANAHEIM — The Thumb Of Baseball was wrapped up tight Saturday afternoon, its owner still bemused by its condition.

— mark whicker, Orange County Register, "Whicker: A bad thumb won’t stop Mike Trout’s drive," 3 June 2017
The present occupant was distinguished, well dressed, friendly and bemused by my pilgrimage.

— william friedkin, New York Times, "In the Footsteps of Marcel Proust," 15 May 2017
Incredible Inspiration’ Viewers were similarly confused and bemused by a performance featuring a man wearing a horse’s head.

— maureen lee lenker, PEOPLE.com, "Eurovision 2017: Portugal’s Salvador Sobral Wins Annual Song Contest," 13 May 2017

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.

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.