Meaning & use
bewildered
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Completely confused, so that you cannot understand what is happening or know what to do.
Grammar: Used after be or look, or before a noun: he looked bewildered; a bewildered tourist.
Patterns
- bewildered by something
- bewildered at something
The tourists were bewildered by the maze of subway lines.
She stood bewildered in the middle of the crowded station.
He gave me a bewildered look when I asked the question.
adjectiveafter a verb
Disoriented and lost, unsure which way to go, as when you are in an unfamiliar place.
Grammar: Often follows verbs of appearance: wander about bewildered.
Patterns
- wander bewildered
The lost child wandered bewildered through the market.
After the long flight, I felt bewildered and could not find the exit.
Word forms
| comparative | more bewildered |
|---|---|
| superlative | most bewildered |
Common combinations
- bewildered by
- The new employee was bewildered by the complex forms.
- look bewildered
- The audience looked bewildered after the strange ending.
- completely bewildered
- I was completely bewildered by his sudden anger.
- bewildered expression
- A bewildered expression crossed her face.
- bewildered silence
- The announcement was met with bewildered silence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- puzzled
- Puzzled is milder and suggests you are trying to work something out, while bewildered suggests you are overwhelmed.
- perplexed
- Perplexed is a little more formal and implies troubled thinking, whereas bewildered stresses feeling lost.
- baffled
- Baffled means you cannot solve a problem at all, while bewildered focuses on the muddled feeling.
- confused
- Confused is the general everyday word and can be mild, while bewildered is stronger.
Opposites
Word family
- bewilder verb
- to confuse someone completely
- bewildering adjective
- causing great confusion
- bewilderment noun
- a state of great confusion
- bewilderingly adverb
- in a confusing way
Commonly confused: bewildered or bewildering?
bewildered vs bewildering
Bewildering describes the thing that causes confusion, while bewildered describes the person who feels it.
Practice
The instructions were so complicated that I felt completely ______.
Choose one answer.
Bewildered describes how a person feels. Bewildering would describe the instructions themselves.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bewildered”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.