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

The real world may initially bewilder Barbie, but she figures it out.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2023

Actually, it’s far, far worse than that because AT maps—for reasons that bewilder me beyond speculation—provide less detail than even their meager scale allows.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

Before grandmother can visit, she is expected to be able to speak to her granddaughter in English — a request that bewilders and aggrieves her, but one that she cannot refuse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2024

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

A political crisis bursts like a tornado, and bewilders the strongest characters.

From Lord Chatham His Early Life and Connections by Rosebery, Archibald Phillip Primrose

The reaction of his coach Jeroen Benard, who looked equally bewildered, was brilliant.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 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

And that, above all, is why so many of us in the media are bewildered by the moves that CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, made recently.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Hoppy Haden, the county’s judge, said he was bewildered by their new-city proposal at first.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

The girl looked so bewildered, like kindness was unfathomable to her, and that broke Hazel’s heart more than anything.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu

Across Havana, private enterprise is transforming the landscape, with new businesses offering cold beer, domestic appliances or car parts popping up at a bewildering rate.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 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

Liberalism has come to acquire a bewildering range of meanings over the years; our understanding of the word is, by necessity, contextual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

There is something intuitively catchy about brain attack, even if it’s also a little bewildering.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026

But her mother and father would find cities like Rochester and Syracuse too big and bewildering, too noisy.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry