bewildering

adjective

be·​wil·​der·​ing bi-ˈwil-d(ə-)riŋ 

bē-

: extremely confusing or difficult to understand

an utterly bewildering experience

a bewildering number of possibilities

… a place of odd traditions and bewildering practices.

—David Williamson

bewilderingly adverb

a bewilderingly complex situation

Examples of bewildering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Alex Zhang Hungtai collages a bewildering array of acoustic, electric, ancient, and modern sounds on this noirish double album, improvised and composed over several years with an ad-hoc coterie that includes string and woodwind players, a noise musician, a Korean gong resonator, and a tap dancer. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 19 June 2026

Trump’s proposal for a National Garden of American Heroes, where visitors could commune with statues of 250 historic figures, is simply bewildering. — Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026

Bringing order from the chaos will be a necessary next step in evolution for US higher education, which hopefully US universities to learn from the rapid pace of innovation and provide a more sustainable and less bewildering system. — Bryan Penprase, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

In no uncertain terms, the absence of those issues is bewildering, erodes the entire report’s credibility, and demands an explanation. — Douglas Schoen, Oc Register, 28 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined above