nonplussed

adjective

non·​plussed ˌnän-ˈpləst 

1

: unsure about what to say, think, or do : perplexed

She was nonplussed, but quickly collected herself, explained that the plumbing had been acting up for days, and told them to pay it no mind.

—Diane Ackerman

Cedric looked nonplussed. He looked from Bagman to Harry and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said.

—J. K. Rowling

2

chiefly US : not bothered, surprised, or impressed by something

Employees took to the sidewalks, throwing T-shirts and 20 percent off coupons at the few people who passed by. Still, an H&M spokesman in New York was nonplussed by the lack of fanfare. Opening day varies, he said, from location to location. "It's only one day."

—Saint Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press

For all his daring down the world's steepest hills, Sasaki is remarkably laid back off the slopes and nonplussed by all the sudden interest in him.

—The New York Times

Note: The use of nonplussed to mean "unimpressed" is an Americanism that has become increasingly common in recent decades and now appears frequently in published writing. It apparently arose from confusion over the meaning of nonplussed in ambiguous contexts, and it continues to be widely regarded as an error.

One of the things that most vexes language purists … is when the meaning of a word changes over time. For example, it appears that the traditional sense of the word nonplussed, "bewildered and at a loss as to what to think," is slowly giving way to a new (and opposite) sense: "unfazed." Even experienced writers are using the new sense.

—Paul McFedries

Synonyms

• baffled
• confounded
• hard put
• hard-pressed
• perplexed

Examples of nonplussed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Swift seemingly didn't react, sipping her drink and appearing nonplussed. —Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 8 Jan. 2024

And last year, the Russians demonstrated a humanoid military robot to a seemingly nonplussed Vladimir Putin. —Erico Guizzoevan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2016

Ramaswamy used it to leave MSNBC interviewer Andrea Mitchell silent and nonplussed during their recent broadcast encounter. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2023

Baby Yesenia isn’t the first to be born in the medical center’s parking garage, Andres and Cooper noted, nonplussed. —Kara Nelson, CNN, 3 Sep. 2023

The nonplussed detectives who interview Dmitry about the night of the murder seem to have wandered in from a different novel, one in which personalities are coherent, cause leads to effect, and clues build toward an answer. —Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker, 24 July 2023

Brian Szasz, stepson of passenger Hamish Harding, on the other hand, was nonplussed. —Kate Lindsay, Vulture, 1 July 2023

But the urgency of that phrase is belied by his croaky, nonplussed delivery. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2023

Nikola Jokić, on the other hand… …seemed almost too nonplussed for a guy who just won the title. —Corbin Smith, Rolling Stone, 13 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1