as in bewildering
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
troops disoriented by the sudden change in battle plans
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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
-
The growing complexity of the guidelines is all the more perplexing because the government’s overarching advice on how to eat healthier hasn’t changed that much over the past 35 years.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
23 June 2025
-
Forecasters point to perplexing planetary phenomenon.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
22 June 2025
Verb
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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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The claim that chess is a form of gambling was baffling, according to every chess player NPR spoke to, including Herat resident Jarallah Badghisi.—
Diaa Hadid,
NPR,
17 June 2025
-
Some baffling decisions were made that fundamentally alter not only her characterization and arc, but the very nature of the story itself.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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This book is his opus, one bewildering, confusing, meandering, and disorienting episodic tale after another involving reporters, runways, and casinos, back when Vegas was gloriously trashy.—
Brian Boone,
Vulture,
18 June 2025
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The judge’s tone is one of bewilderment because these circumstances are indeed bewildering, and no doubt would be to the Founding Fathers who expressly rejected monarchy and established a system of government where the citizenry would be free to express its discontent at government policies.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
15 June 2025
Adjective
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These beers had previously been included within larger, more ambiguous lager categories for the Great American Beer Festival competition, but the Brewers Association says the uniqueness and growing popularity of these styles warrants individual guideline recognition.—
Don Tse,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
Tipping for other services may be more ambiguous and recommended as a dollar amount instead, like $10 per hour or $5 per bag carried or shuttle driven.—
Katie Kelton,
Boston Herald,
22 June 2025
Adjective
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Alcazar is the ideal foil for that: elegant, honest, and rich of voice but also self-protected and slightly unknowable, as is the case with all stars.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
20 June 2025
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The arc on the writers’ room wall gives you an illusion of control and intention, but the real road is unknowable.—
Mickey Down,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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In a brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible (BANI) world where change is the only constant, the leadership traits that once earned respect—tenacity, decisiveness and stoicism—are no longer enough.—
Arthi Rabikrisson,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
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Each episode represents an hour in the staff’s frenetic, 15-hour day that culminates with a mass casualty shooting and an incomprehensible case of the measles involving an unvaccinated child.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
12 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Disorienting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disorienting. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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