as in confusing
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as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
troops disoriented by the sudden change in battle plans
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Recent Examples of disorienting
Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
Meaning that even with the curious and disorienting turn of the signage, Arrowhead still figures to be resplendent in the worldwide spotlight.
—Kansas City Star, 12 May 2026
For the passengers, the bus hitting the first curb was unexpected and disorienting.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 9 May 2026
For the casual fan, this nearly 100-minute tranche of odds and ends will likely be disorienting and inessential.
—David Harris, SPIN, 4 May 2026
That disorienting time shift, into the far harsher historical world of 1855, Idaho, is what gives Burke’s book not just its spine but its compelling narrative shape.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 28 Apr. 2026
Plucked from a previous life as a working actor, Richard Gadd experienced a disorienting whirlwind less than two years ago.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
The Manchester trio’s latest album proposes a heady, rhythmic strain of post-punk that references familiar touchstones while sounding genuinely, deliriously disorienting.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 20 Apr. 2026
But still, the stratospheric valuation of the design pieces at Sotheby’s is disorienting; there is vertigo at this height.
—David Lê, Curbed, 20 Apr. 2026
Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 7 May 2026
For someone who studied political science and theology, that shift has been disorienting.
—Nicole Russell, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026
For someone who has spent a lot of time in traditional museums with windowless galleries, the experience was disorienting in the best way.
—John Wogan, Travel + Leisure, 22 Apr. 2026
The irony, of course, is that Handle are so locked into their own sense of logic that listening to the 27-minute album can be disorienting and frequently quite intense.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 20 Apr. 2026
The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s.
—Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2026
The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s.
—ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
Parsing the publications side by side can be disorienting.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 6 Apr. 2026
Then conditions suddenly turn whiteout, disorienting at best and fatal at worst.
—Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
An has amazingly translated this into a fluid experience in English, easy to follow yet pleasantly disorienting.
—Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
Meaning that even with the curious and disorienting turn of the signage, Arrowhead still figures to be resplendent in the worldwide spotlight.
—Kansas City Star, 12 May 2026
For the passengers, the bus hitting the first curb was unexpected and disorienting.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 9 May 2026
For the casual fan, this nearly 100-minute tranche of odds and ends will likely be disorienting and inessential.
—David Harris, SPIN, 4 May 2026
That disorienting time shift, into the far harsher historical world of 1855, Idaho, is what gives Burke’s book not just its spine but its compelling narrative shape.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 28 Apr. 2026
Plucked from a previous life as a working actor, Richard Gadd experienced a disorienting whirlwind less than two years ago.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2026
The Manchester trio’s latest album proposes a heady, rhythmic strain of post-punk that references familiar touchstones while sounding genuinely, deliriously disorienting.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 20 Apr. 2026
But still, the stratospheric valuation of the design pieces at Sotheby’s is disorienting; there is vertigo at this height.
—David Lê, Curbed, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
Americans of all political tendencies increasingly favor sweeping, disorienting political change.
—Abby McCloskey, Twin Cities, 7 May 2026
For someone who studied political science and theology, that shift has been disorienting.
—Nicole Russell, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026
For someone who has spent a lot of time in traditional museums with windowless galleries, the experience was disorienting in the best way.
—John Wogan, Travel + Leisure, 22 Apr. 2026
The irony, of course, is that Handle are so locked into their own sense of logic that listening to the 27-minute album can be disorienting and frequently quite intense.
—Shaad D’souza, Pitchfork, 20 Apr. 2026
The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s.
—Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2026
The world economy is experiencing a disorienting flashback to the 1970s.
—ABC News, 11 Apr. 2026
Parsing the publications side by side can be disorienting.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 6 Apr. 2026
Then conditions suddenly turn whiteout, disorienting at best and fatal at worst.
—Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 29 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disorienting
Adjective
-
As if aware that things are about to get confusing for the audience, writer-director Ritchie throws plenty of narration at us early on, emanating from Rachel Wild (Eiza Gonzalez), the sort of ultra-confident lawyer who clearly dresses for success.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2026
-
When your content is confusing, emotionally charged without context or starts zigzagging into areas that feel off-brand, trust falls apart.—
Claire Bahn,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
The slow starts are baffling to Becht.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
-
As the castle’s internal order collapses under the weight of a string of baffling crimes, Araki strikes a fragile alliance with Kuroda Kanbei – a razor-minded captive languishing in his own dungeon – in a race to root out a traitor before Oda’s army closes in.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The whole situation was perplexing.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Our universe is full of mysteries, but few are as perplexing as the dark, tiny galaxies that hover around larger ones like the Milky Way.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But even more than engaging the big ideas that Emma’s revelation triggers — pun somewhat intended — Lee and Borli wanted to craft an experience that would mimic its main characters’ bewildering interiority.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
-
There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
17 Apr. 2026
-
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The Boeing order is especially puzzling as China is rolling out its indigenous C919 passenger aircraft with great fanfare.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
15 May 2026
-
But as of last month, the FDA has twice opted not to approve RP1, puzzling researchers and worrying drug developers.—
K. R. Callaway,
Scientific American,
2 May 2026
Adjective
-
The Mets’ continual snub of Hall of Famer Carter, a pivotal player in the team’s history as the first building block of the 1986 championship club, is both mystifying and downright embarrassing.—
Bill Madden,
New York Daily News,
14 Mar. 2026
-
The outlandish and mystifying story received nearly wall-to-wall coverage, but the plane was never found.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Text messages in court records show a brief and ambiguous exchange between McCluskie and Williamson that backs that up.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
-
The apparent conflict highlights the ambiguous rules around recall status and its relevance in a trial that’s been peppered with globe-trotting billionaires.—
David Ingram,
NBC news,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disorienting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disorienting. Accessed 17 May. 2026.
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