bewilder

verb be·wil·der \ bi-ˈwil-dər , bē- \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of bewilder

bewildered; bewildering play \bi-ˈwil-d(ə-)riŋ, bē-\

transitive verb

1 : to cause to lose one's bearings (see bearing 6c)

bewildered by the city's maze of roads

2 : to perplex or confuse especially by a complexity, variety, or multitude of objects or considerations

His decision bewildered her.

utterly bewildered by the instructions

—

bewilderedly

adverb

—

bewilderedness

noun

See bewilder defined for English-language learners

See bewilder defined for kids

Examples of bewilder in a Sentence

the change in policy seems to have bewildered many of our customers

Recent Examples of bewilder from the Web

The parent flies off as the chicks look around bewildered.

— rong-gong lin ii, latimes.com, "'Rocks falling everywhere' when earthquake shook Santa Cruz Island, visitors recount," 6 Apr. 2018
Nearly 100 years later, Baxter Street continues to bewilder uncertain drivers and confound elongated vehicles.

— cyrus farivar, Ars Technica, "Waze’s crazy routing over a 32% grade road is driving residents nuts," 5 Apr. 2018
The dog's owner was bewildered at the sudden change in behavior, Pannella said.

— adam ferrise, cleveland.com, "Cleveland man first to be convicted under Ohio's bestiality law," 16 Aug. 2017
All of it has to come to light eventually, and the finale lifts the curtain in one, glorious — if bewildering — fell swoop.

— rebecca farley, refinery29.com, "Let's Talk About The Nutty, Devastating Ending Of Netflix's Tabula Rasa," 26 Mar. 2018
Sea of Thieves leaves a bewildering first impression, a magnificent second one, and, so far, a disappointing lasting taste.

— steven strom, Ars Technica, "Sea of Thieves makes a weak, meandering first impression," 24 Mar. 2018
Archie was relatable to audience members who felt stuck in dead end jobs with little hope of upward mobility, and who were similarly bewildered by the new rules of political correctness.

— sascha cohen, Smithsonian, "How Archie Bunker Forever Changed in the American Sitcom," 21 Mar. 2018
The audience of locals started booing, and Stephanopoulos was visibly bewildered.

— beryl love, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati takes on Nevada in round two of the NCCA basketball tournament – let’s make sure we pronounce the state correctly," 17 Mar. 2018
Stumping this morning in Columbus, Mississippi ahead of tomorrow's Magnolia State primary, Obama told a raucous, applauding crowd that he's bewildered by Clinton's second-fiddle suggestion.

— Newsweek, "Analysis," 14 Mar. 2018

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

First Known Use of bewilder

1633

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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bewilder Synonyms

Phrases

blow one's mind, go to one's head;

Synonym Discussion of bewilder

puzzle, perplex, bewilder, distract, nonplus, confound, dumbfound mean to baffle and disturb mentally. puzzle implies existence of a problem difficult to solve.