bewilder

  • 1Bewilder — Be*wil der, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bewildered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bewildering}.] [Pref. be + wilder.] To lead into perplexity or confusion, as for lack of a plain path; to perplex with mazes; or in general, to perplex or confuse greatly. [1913… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2bewilder — index confound, discompose, disorganize, disorient, disturb, embarrass, misguide, muddle, obfuscate …

    Law dictionary

  • 3bewilder — (v.) 1680s, from BE (Cf. be ) thoroughly + archaic wilder lead astray, lure into the wilds, probably a back formation of WILDERNESS (Cf. wilderness). An earlier word with the same sense was bewhape (early 14c.). Related: BEWILDERED (Cf.… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4bewilder — mystify, perplex, distract, *puzzle, confound, nonplus, dumbfound Analogous words: *confuse, addle, fuddle, muddle: fluster, flurry, perturb, agitate, upset (see DISCOMPOSE): baffle, foil (see FRUSTRATE) …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5bewilder — [v] confuse addle, baffle, ball up*, befuddle, bemuse, confound, daze, disconcert, distract, floor*, fluster, mess with one’s head*, mix up, muddle, mystify, perplex, puzzle, rattle, snow*, stump, stupefy, throw, upset; concepts 14,42 Ant. clear… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6bewilder — ► VERB ▪ perplex or confuse. DERIVATIVES bewildering adjective bewilderment noun. ORIGIN from obsolete wilder «lead or go astray» …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7bewilder — [bē wil′dər, biwil′dər] vt. [ BE + WILDER] 1. to confuse hopelessly, as by something complicated or involved; befuddle; puzzle 2. Archaic to cause to be lost, as in a wilderness SYN. PUZZLE bewilderingly adv …

    English World dictionary

  • 8bewilder — verb a) To confuse, puzzle or befuddle someone, especially with many different things. All the different possible options may bewilder us. b) To disorientate someone. Dont push me into that maze and bewilder me …

    Wiktionary

  • 9bewilder — See puzzle, perplex, bewilder. See puzzle, perplex, bewilder …

    Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • 10bewilder — UK [bɪˈwɪldə(r)] / US [bɪˈwɪldər] verb [transitive] Word forms bewilder : present tense I/you/we/they bewilder he/she/it bewilders present participle bewildering past tense bewildered past participle bewildered to make someone feel confused Too… …

    English dictionary