as in bewildered
suffering from mental confusion
the perennially befuddled professor was always forgetting where she'd left her glasses
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in puzzled
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
The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
The Ukrainians to their credit shrugged off Russia’s apparent artillery superiority in Kursk, correctly surmising that befuddled gunners are useless gunners.
—David Axe, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024
McGregor, Ifans and Boyle play the befuddled adult children of a eccentric mother (Burstyn) who plants herself on a couch at a furniture store and won’t leave.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 July 2024
Only that initiation had prevented me from suffering a fate like that of my befuddled classmate.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for befuddled 
Adjective
The book is filled with humor, canny allusion, beauty, and a profundity born of glimpsing fleeting human lives from the outside—through eyes that have seen epochs yet nonetheless remain befuddled.
—The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024
The Ukrainians to their credit shrugged off Russia’s apparent artillery superiority in Kursk, correctly surmising that befuddled gunners are useless gunners.
—David Axe, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024
McGregor, Ifans and Boyle play the befuddled adult children of a eccentric mother (Burstyn) who plants herself on a couch at a furniture store and won’t leave.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 July 2024
Only that initiation had prevented me from suffering a fate like that of my befuddled classmate.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for befuddled
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befuddled
Adjective
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Anyone else is likely to emerge unharmed, if a little bewildered that these good-looking but skin-deep figures merited feature treatment.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
22 Jan. 2025
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Unleashed upon an unsuspecting public in 1977, Eraserhead initially left crowds confused and bewildered.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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American Primeval’s second episode wastes no time, picking up mere moments after the end of the premiere, which left a dazed Jacob looking for his wife in the middle of a field filled with dead bodies.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
9 Jan. 2025
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Other tribes of music-heads danced through dawn on muddy hillsides, barely sleeping or eating through the driving rain, dazed but giddy to take part in a massive, improbable event.—
Phillip Valys,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Those friends are now left angry, confused and with a stinging loss.—
Ellen Moynihan,
New York Daily News,
26 Jan. 2025
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Many customers are confused about high-yield savings Confusion abounds.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA TODAY,
22 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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It was also found that Texas is the eighth-worst state for distracted driving, per a study from Bader Law.—
Ella Gonzales,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 Jan. 2025
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State of play: In Iowa, there were 123 deaths and over 8,000 injuries caused by distracted driving from 2019 to 2023 — and this is likely underreported, according to a recent policy brief from the University of Iowa's Injury Prevention Research Center.—
Linh Ta,
Axios,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Foreman tumbled downward in a dizzy, slow-motion-like crash, full-weight, a helpless giant, insensible.—
Mikal Gilmore,
Rolling Stone,
17 Jan. 2025
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And now, filmmaker Gia Coppola has constructed a dreamy character piece around Anderson and her dizzy megawatt grin.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near befuddled
Cite this Entry
“Befuddled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befuddled. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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