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

Bond market terminology was designed less to convey meaning than to bewilder outsiders.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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

Dame Pettigrew, as she hears now this story, now that, is first Whig and then Jacobite, until she bewilders herself and the maids.

From Dramatic Technique by Baker, George Pierce

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

Comment sections have quickly evolved into a digital support group for bewildered men swapping stories of their own theatre experience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

After moving himself down a place to number seven, he essentially missed a straight one to be bowled by Smith, and looked bewildered that his stumps had been disturbed.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

We’ve all been bewildered kids, Parsons more recently than most.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

Carl huddled in a chair, nursing his bony knees, fascinated and bewildered by the grimaces of the big Greek.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

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

With its exquisite controls—a knob to wind the clock, a key to wind the bell and a button to silence the alarm—it was a bewildering cross between jewelry and a grown-up appliance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

But the Health and Human Services Secretary’s statements at a House hearing last Thursday were as bewildering as the FDA rejection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026

From New York to Virginia, American intelligence operatives like Armistead were bewildering the British.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen