Andy Logan
Did you know?
When it comes to the origins of flummox, etymologists are, well, flummoxed. No one really knows where the word comes from. The first known print use of the verb flummox appeared in Charles Dickens’ novel The Pickwick Papers in the mid-1830s, while the adjective flummoxed appeared italicized a few years earlier in a Dublin newspaper article about laborers striking against employers who oppose their rights: “Lord Cloncurry is actually flummoxed. The people refuse to work for him.” To be flummoxed by something is to be utterly confused by it—that is, to be baffled, puzzled, bewildered, completely unable to understand. Fortunately, a word can be used even if everyone is flummoxed by its etymology, and by the end of the 19th century, flummox had become quite common in both British and American English.
Examples of flummox in a Sentence
Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
Aside from that, the playmaking has been largely predictable, devoid of the type of creative wrinkles needed to flummox opposing defenses.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2025
Springsteen said she is flummoxed by the Jeffco school district’s willingness to sell the elementary school to Lakewood for a third of that valuation.
—John Aguilar, Denver Post, 29 Oct. 2025
In the aftermath of the mayoral protection bids, Lamb is left understandably flummoxed.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flummox
Cite this Entry
“Flummox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flummox. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flummox
verb
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