as in bewildered
suffering from mental confusion
the perennially befuddled professor was always forgetting where she'd left her glasses
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in baffled
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
most of the applicants were befuddled by the wording of one of the questions on the driving test
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of befuddled
Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
And, at least to our befuddled mind, clarity as well.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 22 Oct. 2025
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 15 Sep. 2025
Stainton Williams has been similarly befuddled by his interactions with Citizens.
—Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for befuddled
Adjective
Watts then looks toward the Kardashians camera and flashes a befuddled look.
—Verb
And the offensive operation looked much smoother, as Payton meshed the Colts to death and befuddled their defense on a second-quarter touchdown in which tight end Adam Trautman split out wide.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for befuddled
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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At a vigil for the two on Sunday night, friends and family were baffled by the killing, the Allentown Morning Call reported.—
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Scientists are also baffled by how the planet could have formed at all.—
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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Although puzzled, Aisha answered honestly.—
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Like his wife, Moore was puzzled when their friend didn’t show up to eat dinner.—
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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Coaches and talent evaluators, both inside the Raiders’ facility and around the league, have been perplexed by the lack of creativity and production.—
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Country fans were perplexed as to why Johnson, revered for his commitment to traditional country, had gone mostly dark in the studio during that time.—
Adjective
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Farley, who looks stunned, examines it.—
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The woman shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis was a loving mother, a poet and a partner whose family – along with neighbors across her stunned city and strangers far beyond – is shocked by the circumstances surrounding her death.—
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.—
Cite this Entry
“Befuddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befuddled. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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