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

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

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

Our needless tangle of furnishing bewilders those who still think the flowers that grow of themselves in the Irish thatch more beautiful than anything under the cover of our prosaic shingled roofs.

From Strangers and Wayfarers by Jewett, Sarah Orne

“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

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

Christine Li is a model and influencer, but not an actor, so when she saw herself playing a cruel character in a Chinese microdrama she felt bewildered, then angry and afraid.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

Figo looked dazed and bewildered at his unveiling but showed his class once he hit the Bernabeu turf.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

“I don’t understand it. What can there be in a simple little story like that to make people praise it so?” she said, quite bewildered.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

While border officials contact authorities nationwide to verify the identity of those who don't have any form of ID, the process for newly arrived Afghans can be bewildering.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 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

So how can Labour escape this new bewildering world of pain?

From BBC ● May 9, 2026

Then there is the bewildering volume of files now available for the conspiracy-minded to peruse in search of clues and secret codes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026

From a bewildering array of boxes with confident names—Predictor, Fact, Accu-Test—she selected one and pressed it into Mia’s hands.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng