flustered

adjective

flus·​tered ˈflə-stərd 

: in a state of agitated confusion

She became so flustered that she'd … kept repeating, "Gosh, I can't even think …" Later she confided, "I was almost in tears right after doing those numbers."

—Stephen S. Hall

The flustered lady gave me a blank stare and said, "That's not Mr. Franklin. The guard said Mr. Franklin was on his way up."

—Dick Francis

… the oxen … seemed more patient and less flustered than their masters …

—Deborah Straw

flusteredly adverb

"Everything's under control, I think!" she says a little flusteredly. "We had a problem with the table posies, but fingers crossed, they should be on their way … ."

—Sophie Kinsella

Examples of flustered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

From the backfield that day, Burns watched and cheered as Carter flustered quarterback Russell Wilson. —Charlotte Carroll, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2025

The panel also premiered an extended trial room sequence with John Cena as an ACME lawyer and Forte as Wile’s flustered attorney and teased an appearance from Bugs Bunny himself in the film. —Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 26 July 2025

Charlotte is reduced to a flustered housewife, though there have been some attempts at reintroducing her love of art and life away from Upper East Side motherhood. —Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 23 July 2025

But that response encapsulated Ashe’s personality on the court – cool, calm and collected, a man that rarely, if ever, looked flustered. —Matias Grez, CNN Money, 5 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

see fluster entry 1

First Known Use

1743, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flustered

• blustered
• bustard
• clustered
• custard
• mustard
• mustered