as in dazed
suffering from mental confusion
my brain grew more and more addle as I made my way through the tax instructions
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to bewilder
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
after slipping on the ice, Bethany was so addled that she left her groceries where they'd fallen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of addle
Ann Hornaday, Twin Cities, 25 July 2019
Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2025
Newer findings about how air pollution may addle a body—by worsening mental health or triggering more cases of neurodegenerative disease, for example—haven’t yet been included in the EPA’s risk-benefit assessments of air-quality regulations, Casey added.
—Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for addle
Adjective
Soon enough, the foursome are in the back of that truck in an adventure that begins as a moneymaking scheme and promises to become a heroic journey into the heart of white supremacy at its most virulent and addle-minded.
—Verb
Under the influence of drugs and addled by delusions that Miles Armstead was to blame for his family’s fortunes, Thomas began ruthlessly harassing the couple.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for addle
Adjective
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The scramble to get the show launched has left Tierney and Brady a bit dazed.—
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Meanwhile, the Golden Globes has officially added a podcast category, and even though no one quite knows what to make of it, folks seem dazed enough to roll with it nevertheless.—
Verb
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But unlike his Sophoclean namesake, Orestes is bewildered by this escalation and refuses.—
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In April, the president was among those bewildered by his fall.—
Adjective
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Snook and Lacy, who display such sharp instincts in their best work, seem to have been directed to overact; cameras freeze on their exaggeratedly bewildered or angry or devastated expressions, putting exclamation points at the end of too many scenes.—
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Instead, a bewildered stranger answers the door.—
Verb
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Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance.—
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Experts on childhood disease were baffled by the change in guidance.—
Adjective
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In Arizona, our driving laws are influenced by factors like busy freeways in metro Phoenix, monsoon season flooding, outdated transportation modes and distracted driving laws.—
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That the impossible standards we're sold are designed to keep us small, distracted, and spending money on the next fix.—
Verb
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The disjunction between the abstract composition and the notion of self-portraiture appeared perplexing in its own right; its inoperability only exacerbated the viewer’s frustration and redoubled the artist’s impish provocation.—
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But the unknown in that equation is what perplexes the Mavericks and has the team stuck for now.—
Adjective
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Goedert scored his second touchdown on a fourth-and-2 leaving a confused Malik Mustapha behind him in the left flat.—
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Yet many of its citizens feel both whiplashed and confused.—
Verb
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The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.—
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Canales-Pelaez said that local departments may be confusing administrative warrants with criminal ones, or overcomplying to avoid backlash from the state Legislature.—
Cite this Entry
“Addle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/addle. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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