bewilder

The absurdist’s power rests in their ability to befuddle and bewilder, trusting the joke will land with the right folks and insult their target’s intelligence.

From Salon ● May 21, 2026

Essential to a wilderness is its capacity to bewilder, and though certain of Church’s colleagues in the Hudson River group, notably Worthington Whittredge, brilliantly captured this dense, enfolding quality, Church seldom did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

If the soul of Leif Erikson were to materialize inside his statue for a day, much of what he saw would bewilder him.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023

Figuring out what metrics make a streaming show successful can bewilder fans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

This was one more thing to bewilder everyone, especially the horseman.

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

The variety of goals that the Japanese striker scores is astonishing, but all of them have one thing in common - speed of thought that bewilders the unfortunates tasked with the job of marking him.

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2023

Basra continually bewilders experts, envoys and residents: How can a relatively stable province so rich in resources rank among the poorest and most under-developed in the country?

From Washington Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

Basra continually bewilders experts, envoys and residents: How can a relatively stable province so rich in resources rank among the poorest and most underdeveloped in the country?

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2023

In Herman Melville’s 1853 short story “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” a Wall Street clerk bewilders his manager by politely refusing to do basic tasks, including leaving the office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2022

"I remember everything—but, dear, there is one thing that grieves and bewilders me—why, why could you not have earned a clean, fine living with your pen ... where was your gift of writing?"

From Poppy The Story of a South African Girl by Cynthia Stockley

At first, I was pleasantly surprised, if a little bewildered because of who they came from.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

By the time Boyle danced past several bewildered defenders and made it 4-0, it seemed as though Hibs could do no wrong.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Still, some U.S. business executives said they are bewildered by the legal justification for the new global tariff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

“The Admin wants all of this to happen as soon as possible. It is frankly bewildered that Anthropic hasn’t wanted to comply with safety requests that it previously said were its highest priority,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

He looks around, bewildered because there isn’t any noise.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

One of the more bewildering primary results of the year came this week in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, a swing seat currently represented by Democratic freshman Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026

Yankees games appear on a bewildering array of channels and platforms—some free, most not.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

In the real world there is a bewildering array of outcomes to any action, which requires a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Shibley Telhami, a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland and a fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, says the threat of a blockade was "bewildering and seems self-defeating."

From Barron's ● Apr. 12, 2026

The upper shelf was loaded with unlabeled cans of a bewildering variety of sizes and shapes.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov