bewildered

adjective

be·​wil·​dered bi-ˈwil-dərd How to pronounce bewildered (audio)
bē-
: deeply or utterly confused or perplexed
I was appalled and was too bewildered to do or say anything.Bram Stoker
He looked at her with a bewildered expression.
Speaking for myself, I stumbled into motherhood and was bewildered at the shift of gears, the volte-face required to reorient myself, my values and my way of life into being a carer of small children.Madeleine Bunting

Examples of bewildered in a Sentence

the bewildered child wandered aimlessly around the playground
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Tornado is a bewildered Japanese girl (played by pop singer Kôki) who fights off a horde of white men, thieving gold vagabonds who represent both Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Celtic ancestry. Armond White, National Review, 4 June 2025 After staying at the shelter, Caboose eventually underwent surgery to get spayed and get their hernia repaired, but that's when doctors found something that left them bewildered. Nicholas Rice, People.com, 24 May 2025 Teens have been steered toward various options by parents and college advisors yet come to me bewildered and overwhelmed. Cyndy Etler, Hartford Courant, 28 Apr. 2025 But Evander Kane banked a puck off Esa Lindell’s skate and past a bewildered DeSmith less than three minutes later to restore the two-goal lead. Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 30 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for bewildered

Word History

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bewildered was in 1760

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Cite this Entry

“Bewildered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bewildered. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.

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