1
: marked by confusion or bewilderment : dazed
… he was fumbling with the sheets, and looking down at them with a slightly bemused expression as though the stuff before him was in a foreign language …—
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren2
: lost in thought or reverie
… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.—Michael Straight
Michael Straight3
: having or showing feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing
This is not another of those now popular books about a bemused outsider's sojourn in rural France, brimming with colorful locals and heart-warming anecdotes.—J. D. McClatchy
J. D. McClatchy
bemusedly
bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 
adverb
bē-
Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.
—J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Examples of bemused in a Sentence
new federal regulations that the easily bemused should make no attempt to read and understand
Recent Examples on the Web
When Anisimova lost the Queen’s final last month to 37-year-old Tatyana Maria, she was totally bemused by the German’s cat and mouse tactics.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
When things go wrong — such as the morning when a technical glitch with the PA system radio frequency led to a funeral service from a nearby church being broadcast to a bemused cricket crowd — what elsewhere might be regarded as irritations become charming idiosyncrasies.
—Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 9 July 2025
Everybody was very sympathetic that day and I was slightly bemused by it.
—Andrew Goldman, Vulture, 16 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati walked by Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a toilet bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
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.
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
When things go wrong — such as the morning when a technical glitch with the PA system radio frequency led to a funeral service from a nearby church being broadcast to a bemused cricket crowd — what elsewhere might be regarded as irritations become charming idiosyncrasies.
—Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 9 July 2025
Everybody was very sympathetic that day and I was slightly bemused by it.
—Andrew Goldman, Vulture, 16 June 2025
As the Broadway glitterati walked by Studio 54 over these last few nights, Smart was inside, slipping disinfectant into a toilet bowl for her bemused fans.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
Cite this Entry
“Bemused.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bemused. Accessed 17 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share