as in perplexing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in baffling
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befuddling
Adjective
-
Even more perplexing: If shutting off service to new customers without an account is their strict policy, why wait until Friday to execute it?—
Ryan Minton,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025 -
Part of the reason structures like the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall are so perplexing to scientists has to do with the cosmological principle, which most models of the cosmos are founded upon.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
20 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Researchers are particularly focused on unraveling the puzzling interplay between gas content, magma pressure and lava flow dynamics.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
3 Jan. 2025
-
Almost two years into his ordeal, Gould learned of an initiative at the National Institutes of Health that focuses on solving the country’s most puzzling medical cases.—
Jason Liebowitz,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
And yet the industry is beset by a dismaying trend: More and more, people are watching movies on their laptops, tablets, and smartphones.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Feb. 2014
-
For the Congolese government, the ineffective Western responses follow a dismaying pattern.—
Michela Wrong,
Foreign Affairs,
3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
But by the end, Sirens shifts gears again and descends into bewildering melodrama with a nonsensical final twist that feels tacked on for the sake of having a big final twist.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
22 May 2025
-
His message after another bewildering loss was that what’s done is done.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
8 May 2025
Adjective
-
That the short story wasn’t focused on gay self-loathing or repression appealed to director Hermanus, as well as how the film treats the relationship between Lionel and David with a casualness that belies its potentially upsetting subject matter.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
22 May 2025
-
These questions give hip-hop fans another thing to reckon with, in addition to all of the upsetting claims against Combs.—
Kyndall Cunningham,
Vox,
12 May 2025
Adjective
-
Consumers have gotten used to a complicated annual plan selection, confusing industry jargon, and incomprehensible coverage policies.—
Dan Gingiss,
Forbes.com,
11 Apr. 2025
-
Every version of it, whether recorded in a studio, live with a full orchestra or only a piano, just rails through absolutely incomprehensible storytelling (something about virgins on a spaceship?) with a lusty guitar and smashed piano chords.—
Shana Naomi Krochmal,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Befuddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befuddling. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share