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
Dade Hayes, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
As a longtime fan of Gage's, Hirsch said watching that episode of The Kardashians was a bit disorienting, because Gage didn't seem like himself.
—Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
The process of peeling those layers, though, can be disorienting, particularly in a world where attempting to map the nebulousness of self is often interrupted and fragmented by the screen.
—Rachel Seo, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025
Operated by the Colorado Army National Guard, the site is used by NASA to simulate disorienting slopes, shadows, uneven surfaces and dynamic lighting conditions that astronauts may face when trying to land on the moon.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Grapple points for quickly changing position in combat are more disorienting than tactical.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Perhaps psychologists and philosophers should prescribe this dazzling and disorienting novel as exposure therapy for both the sick and the well.
—Scott Stossel, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2025
One of the most disorienting moves The Paper makes right off the bat is to provide two different Michael Scott figures — neither of whom serve as the lead character the way Steve Carell’s Michael did.
—Jesse Hassenger, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Sophia Compton, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2025
What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.
—Paul McAdory, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025
Cinematographer James Friend creates a purgatorial realm of disorienting angles and neon lights too sickly to be beautiful, the nightmarishness further underlined by Volker Bertelman’s thundering score.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 30 Aug. 2025
This was not a hoax, exactly; Baron makes a convincing case that Lowell believed passionately in his grandiose claims, and that many members of the public wanted to believe in them, at a time of disorienting change.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
Ultimately, this film’s absurd existentialist deadpan aligns Lanthimos’ work here closer to Ruben Östlund than ever — himself a filmmaker likely drawing from Lanthimos these days — to mine the comedy of repetitious futility to disorienting effect.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
The blending of genres can be disorienting.
—G Kirilloff, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The rapid shifts of tone in his conversations with Nicholas can be disorienting, veering from sharp political criticism to sentimental memories of visiting the Winter Palace.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025
That rancor combined with Nazi flags will never not be disorienting to anyone who knows what the Thousand-Year Reich that lasted for twelve years inflicted on the world.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2025
Verb
As in the case of Venu, the idea was to try to bring some coherence to an experience that has become fragmented and disorienting.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
As a longtime fan of Gage's, Hirsch said watching that episode of The Kardashians was a bit disorienting, because Gage didn't seem like himself.
—Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
The process of peeling those layers, though, can be disorienting, particularly in a world where attempting to map the nebulousness of self is often interrupted and fragmented by the screen.
—Rachel Seo, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025
Operated by the Colorado Army National Guard, the site is used by NASA to simulate disorienting slopes, shadows, uneven surfaces and dynamic lighting conditions that astronauts may face when trying to land on the moon.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Grapple points for quickly changing position in combat are more disorienting than tactical.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Perhaps psychologists and philosophers should prescribe this dazzling and disorienting novel as exposure therapy for both the sick and the well.
—Scott Stossel, The Atlantic, 9 Sep. 2025
One of the most disorienting moves The Paper makes right off the bat is to provide two different Michael Scott figures — neither of whom serve as the lead character the way Steve Carell’s Michael did.
—Jesse Hassenger, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
When the officer shined a flashlight to get a closer look, Winkler aimed a laser at Santiago’s face, briefly disorienting him.
—Sophia Compton, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2025
What she’s produced is a searching, pointedly disorienting text, studded with passages of extreme beauty and generous humor, that wears whimsy like a shivering veil over consuming discomfort, even terror.
—Paul McAdory, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2025
Cinematographer James Friend creates a purgatorial realm of disorienting angles and neon lights too sickly to be beautiful, the nightmarishness further underlined by Volker Bertelman’s thundering score.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 30 Aug. 2025
This was not a hoax, exactly; Baron makes a convincing case that Lowell believed passionately in his grandiose claims, and that many members of the public wanted to believe in them, at a time of disorienting change.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
Ultimately, this film’s absurd existentialist deadpan aligns Lanthimos’ work here closer to Ruben Östlund than ever — himself a filmmaker likely drawing from Lanthimos these days — to mine the comedy of repetitious futility to disorienting effect.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2025
The blending of genres can be disorienting.
—G Kirilloff, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The rapid shifts of tone in his conversations with Nicholas can be disorienting, veering from sharp political criticism to sentimental memories of visiting the Winter Palace.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025
That rancor combined with Nazi flags will never not be disorienting to anyone who knows what the Thousand-Year Reich that lasted for twelve years inflicted on the world.
—Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disorienting
Verb
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And aren’t our real-life romantic complications bewildering enough?—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Its ginormous investments in higher-value, tech-heavy sectors from smartphones to autos to semiconductors to biotechnology are disrupting the global landscape at bewildering speed.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Most intriguing is how these groups will be submitted among the rock, metal and alternative categories, distinctions that only get more confusing as time marches on.—
Alan Light,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Oct. 2025
-
Annie and Nick Annie and Nick's path to getting engaged was winding and confusing.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In May, Kennedy vowed to find what caused autism by September, baffling scientists who near-unanimously believe there is no one cause of the condition.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
22 Sep. 2025
-
This is stuttering, crashing and other issues, even on high-end hardware way above recommended specs, which is baffling some.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Every trade deadline is a perplexing adventure.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
-
The phenomenon is called seasonal asynchrony, and a new study finds these perplexing locations appear in tropical mountains of countries like Costa Rica as well as places like California that have Mediterranean climates.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The observations detected a puzzling event as the planet transitioned from a steady accretion rate in April and May to a burst of growth between June and August.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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These include one in which Arthur sports a full beard, a puzzling image given that Arthur has only a mustache.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
22 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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On Sunday, there was a mystifying stretch of turnovers on five straight possessions that began in the second quarter and extended into the fourth quarter.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Life is mysterious and ambiguous, and so the film to us, is a beautiful representation of that type of experience that is just not captured very often in movies.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
1 Oct. 2025
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For over a century, the United States has coercively maintained the base against the wishes of the Cuban government, an arrangement prompting political and legal debates surrounding the territory’s ambiguous sovereignty.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disorienting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disorienting. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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