bewildered

adjective

be·​wil·​dered bi-ˈwil-dərd 

bē-

: deeply or utterly confused or perplexed

I was appalled and was too bewildered to do or say anything.

—Bram Stoker

He looked at her with a bewildered expression.

Speaking for myself, I stumbled into motherhood and was bewildered at the shift of gears, the volte-face required to reorient myself, my values and my way of life into being a carer of small children.

—Madeleine Bunting

Synonyms

• addle
• addled
• addlepated
• bedeviled
• befogged
• befuddled
• bemused
• 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 bewildered in a Sentence

the bewildered child wandered aimlessly around the playground

Recent Examples on the Web

Because, as the bewildered Jackson says in response, Who hates guitars? —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 21 May 2025

Also speaking to camera, the various members of the Girard family waver between resentment and bewildered confusion. —Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 15 May 2025

Its cameras captured the ensuing confusion, showing bewildered tourists and schoolchildren being ushered out of the building by museum staff, who were concerned for the safety of some of the nation’s treasures, including works of art by Francisco Goya and Diego Velázquez. —Jonathan Wolfe, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025

His bewildered facial expressions are a form of comedy on their own. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined above