to discombobulate
6
9.9
- verb
- /ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɑː.bjʊ.leɪt/
- Informal
:
confundir
- The complicated instructions discombobulated him, making it hard to complete the task.
- get discombobulated
- totally discombobulated
- completely discombobulated
And it's also discombobulating, if that's the right word, like the lack of judgment.
- And it's also discombobulating, if that's the right word, like the lack of judgment.
- How much more clever to just kind of discombobulate the mind of your past, make your pest forget where it saw you or forget what it's doing.
Examples
-
Jeff's face turned no-parking red; he was so discombobulated he forgot to close the door.
Fiction book (1999) -
Yes, the players looked discombobulated, but this was only the second game together (for the starters)!
Blog text (9) -
Which, if you ask me, is really how things got so discombobulated.
-
Maybe they're still discombobulated from last week.
Blog text (13) -
The worst thing to do when you feel discombobulated is to sit around and let your thoughts fester.
Blog text (7) -
Panting and discombobulated, Hawk looks across the table at the female hands holding open a menu.
Fiction book (1991) -
Warner stares at her: completely discombobulated.
Fiction book (2001) -
Without them, we'd feel discombobulated all the time as we try to make sense of the kaleidoscope of sights and sounds assaulting our senses.
Academic text (2011) -
I awoke on the shores of a very small island... regurgitating seawater and discombobulated beyond belief.
-
The minister who stutters through the marriage ceremony in Four Weddings and a Funeral is so discombobulated by the seriousness of the occasion that he makes a travesty of it.
Academic text (1995)
Synonyms
321
7.8
To make someone feel confused or unsure
266
1.9
Make someone unable to think clearly or make something hard to understand
73
4.9
To make someone feel confused when something is hard to understand
65
5.3
To make someone very confused and unable to understand
35
6.3
To make someone confused and unable to understand
29
5.3
Make someone very confused and unable to think clearly
22
7.0
Make someone unable to think clearly
22
5.2
To make a person feel confused about where they are or what to do
17
7.0
To surprise someone so much that they cannot speak or answer
11
7.8
To make someone very confused so they cannot think clearly
11
7.5
To make someone feel confused or unable to understand
7
8.6
To confuse someone so they do not know what to do or think
2
8.2
Cause ongoing trouble and confusion for people or things
1
9.4
To confuse someone and make them unable to think clearly
To confuse someone so they cannot think clearly
Surprise and confuse a person so they do not know what to do
To make someone lose their sense of direction or feel confused
Antonyms
How Confused
9
7.9
29
5.3
- Informal
6
9.9
35
6.3
266
1.9
73
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
discombobulate = combobulate (opaque) = dis + combobulate
Although the negative prefix 'dis-' is recognizable, the base 'combobulate' is rare and jocular (often a back-formation), so learners cannot reliably predict the meaning.
Etymology
Discombobulate is a playful made-up word that mixes dis- 'not' with a silly combobulate like 'put together'. A helpful way to remember it is 'not put together', so to discombobulate someone is to confuse them or make them unable to think clearly.