Meaning & use

bewilder

verb·Academic

To confuse someone completely, especially so that they do not know what to do.

See it in a sentence

The complicated tax form bewildered even the accountant reviewing it.

Conflicting directions from her two managers left the new employee thoroughly bewildered.

A note on using this word

Bewilder is often used in the passive, as 'be bewildered by,' to describe a state of confused disorientation.

Words with a similar meaning

confusebaffleperplex

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

enlightenclarify

Make it your own

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