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.
A couple was left bewildered after discovering an unfamiliar cat helping itself to their own pet's food in a now-viral TikTok video that has left viewers on the platform in hysterics. Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025 Officials in other places that had voted overwhelmingly for President Trump but were far from the front lines of the immigration debate were simply bewildered. Campbell Robertson, New York Times, 31 May 2025 Body camera video from the incident captures the 49-year-old handcuffed naked and bewildered in her living room just after 7 p.m. on a Thursday evening. Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 29 Apr. 2025 There were also problems connecting to the internet and to phone networks, leaving many bewildered and unable to obtain information. Catherine Porter, New York Times, 29 Apr. 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 21 Jul. 2025.

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