1
: marked by confusion or bewilderment : dazed
… he was fumbling with the sheets, and looking down at them with a slightly bemused expression as though the stuff before him was in a foreign language …—
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren2
: lost in thought or reverie
… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.—Michael Straight
Michael Straight3
: having or showing feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing
This is not another of those now popular books about a bemused outsider's sojourn in rural France, brimming with colorful locals and heart-warming anecdotes.—J. D. McClatchy
J. D. McClatchy
bemusedly
bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 
adverb
bē-
Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.
—J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Examples of bemused in a Sentence
new federal regulations that the easily bemused should make no attempt to read and understand
Recent Examples on the Web
Everybody was very sympathetic that day and I was slightly bemused by it.
—Andrew Goldman, Vulture, 16 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati walked by Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a toilet bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati was walking by outside Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 13 June 2025
Other sources familiar with the matter who, like all consulted for this article, have been granted anonymity to protect relations, said some players were less surprised by the decision itself, but more bemused by the timing.
—Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 16 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
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Andrew Goldman, Vulture, 16 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati walked by Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a toilet bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati was walking by outside Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 13 June 2025
Other sources familiar with the matter who, like all consulted for this article, have been granted anonymity to protect relations, said some players were less surprised by the decision itself, but more bemused by the timing.
—Charlotte Harpur, The Athletic, 16 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
Cite this Entry
“Bemused.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bemused. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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