befuddlement

Examples

• All

• Absolute befuddlement about the evil of which we are capable, wickedness that the arts and the humanities can express at their best.

  Academic text (1995)

• When I ask students to reproduce the first performance, which might have included a technical or musical problem, the response is often one of befuddlement: "You want us to make the mistakes again?"

  Academic text (1994)

• However, lifting a little of the befuddlement may help you feel a little more grounded.

  DoctorRamani

• After some initial befuddlement, students complain that it would be wrong for me to give grades in this manner.

  Academic text (2000)

• Although no babe in the woods, I fall into a pleasant befuddlement.

  Fiction book (1994)

• The serene walk cleared the befuddlement from my mind and gave me a few moments to reflect.

  Fiction book (1999)

• You're a combination of happiness for your friend's happiness, mixed with a bit of befuddlement, because when did everyone start getting married?

  Blog text (31)

• Casey was an intellectual who, despite the political befuddlements of recent years, still wanted to make the world over.

  Fiction book (1998)

• Mandy stared up at the men in befuddlement, and Silas spoke.

  Fiction book (1991)

• I have noticed that many people have expressed a profound sense of befuddlement at the anti-climactic ending of the film; an ending where the bad guy seems to get away and life (at least for some people) simply goes on.

  Blog text (20)

Synonyms

B

bewilderment

vsbefuddlement

12 4.8

A feeling of being very confused and not knowing what to do

is a similar state but usually less intense

P

puzzlement

vsbefuddlement

9 5.5

A feeling of not understanding something that is hard to explain

is used more generally not only for hard to explain things

P

perplexity

vsbefuddlement

4 7.5

Feeling confused because something is hard to understand

is the same confusion but not tied specifically to complexity

B

bemusement

vsbefuddlement

4 7.4

A feeling of confusion when something is hard to understand

is the same state but can apply in wider situations

I

incomprehension

vsbefuddlement

4 6.9

A feeling of not being able to understand something

is the broader emotional state that often follows not understanding

B

bafflement

vsbefuddlement

3 7.0

A feeling of confusion when you cannot understand something

is broader and can come from many causes

M

mystification

vsbefuddlement

3 8.1

Making things confusing so people feel puzzled

is only the state of confusion rather than the act of causing it

C

confusedness

vsbefuddlement

6.5

A feeling of not thinking or acting clearly

is mainly an uncertain feeling rather than broken thinking

Antonyms

U

understanding

871 1.1

The ability to know what something means

C

clarity

152 3.0

How easy it is to understand what someone says or writes

How Confused

stupefaction

1 9.5

bewilderment

12 4.8

perplexity

4 7.5

befuddlement

1 8.1

confusion

389 1.8

puzzlement

9 5.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology