as in bewildering
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
troops disoriented by the sudden change in battle plans
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in confusing
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Recent Examples of disorienting
Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
The plot might seem repetitive, going back and forth between Violet trying to follow the anonymous rules and worming her way out of them to seek help (only to be outsmarted), but the movie’s exciting, stage-like formal flourishes and its disorienting lensing keep things moving smoothly.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025
Having your home taken apart to build someone else’s sounds nothing short of disorienting.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 3 Mar. 2025
Defying professional orthodoxies about keeping widescreen framings wide and widescreen editing simple, Ray relies copiously on closeups, quick montages, and distorting and disorienting diagonal angles.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
Observing the politics, posturing, and commentary in this year’s first few weeks has been disorienting for many.
—The Sorenson Impact Institute, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
Don’t be in the shot and make sure the background is not distracting or casting disorienting shadows.
—Hank Sanders, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The genre revels in spatially disorienting the player.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Its story, punctuated by the sensation of war as a disorienting constant, first took shape in 2019, only for the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War to shape it further the following year — eventually leading to the displacement of over a hundred thousand Armenians in 2023.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Feb. 2025
Adjective
Interviews with investigators and other parties invested in these cases use shifting, disorienting focus to disguise people’s physical details.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 18 Mar. 2025
The plot might seem repetitive, going back and forth between Violet trying to follow the anonymous rules and worming her way out of them to seek help (only to be outsmarted), but the movie’s exciting, stage-like formal flourishes and its disorienting lensing keep things moving smoothly.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025
Having your home taken apart to build someone else’s sounds nothing short of disorienting.
—H.m.a. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 3 Mar. 2025
Defying professional orthodoxies about keeping widescreen framings wide and widescreen editing simple, Ray relies copiously on closeups, quick montages, and distorting and disorienting diagonal angles.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
Observing the politics, posturing, and commentary in this year’s first few weeks has been disorienting for many.
—The Sorenson Impact Institute, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
Don’t be in the shot and make sure the background is not distracting or casting disorienting shadows.
—Hank Sanders, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025
The genre revels in spatially disorienting the player.
—Lewis Gordon, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Its story, punctuated by the sensation of war as a disorienting constant, first took shape in 2019, only for the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War to shape it further the following year — eventually leading to the displacement of over a hundred thousand Armenians in 2023.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disorienting
Adjective
-
After a perplexing dream, Geron embarks on a quest to connect with his musically inclined son, Anthony, in hopes of creating music ice cream lovers–and the world—will love.—
DeVonne Goode,
Parents,
10 July 2025
-
Riverside’s dissing of juries is even more perplexing given that California conviction rates in criminal cases top 60%.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
6 July 2025
Verb
-
Researchers are particularly focused on unraveling the puzzling interplay between gas content, magma pressure and lava flow dynamics.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
3 Jan. 2025
-
Almost two years into his ordeal, Gould learned of an initiative at the National Institutes of Health that focuses on solving the country’s most puzzling medical cases.—
Jason Liebowitz,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Oh, and Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., is playing Doctor Doom in a baffling mystery decision.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
17 July 2025
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Pros & Cons Thanks to a reversal of a baffling rebranding campaign, the Warner Bros. Discovery video streaming service is now once again called HBO Max.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
14 July 2025
Adjective
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Amazon With a bewildering array of colorful smart lighting for any occasion, Govee is an affordable alternative to brands like Philips Hue.—
Simon Hill,
Wired News,
11 July 2025
-
The number of color swatches and leather/fabric samples is bewildering.—
Tim Pitt,
Robb Report,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Emojis in texts: More than just fun, a tool for connection While emojis can sometimes be ambiguous or misunderstood, especially in sarcastic or complex conversations, their overall impact is positive.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
-
In fact, she was designed to be ethnically ambiguous for that reason, suggested Carlos Cortés, professor emeritus in history at UC Riverside, who consulted the creative team.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 July 2025
Adjective
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In Nolan’s vision, Batman was a vastly complicated superhero, brooding and unknowable.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
11 July 2025
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Some questions are ultimately unknowable — but can still be useful or enjoyable to ask.—
Molly Herring,
Quanta Magazine,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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And as the discourse around it keeps stacking up, what started as a silly turn of phrase has devolved into an incomprehensible mess that’s preventing people from noticing the much more insidious shift around them.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
11 July 2025
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This is because for the first Daemon X Machina, the story was an incomprehensible mess.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
9 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disorienting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disorienting. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
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