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

Thanksgiving is a time for making people happy, not for persuading them to drink avant-garde styles that you love but that may bewilder mainstream drinkers.

From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2021

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

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 Sarah Orne Jewett

Other times, I was interviewing believers and, more often, their bewildered loved ones.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

And Glaswegian Jamieson was the bewildered recipient of the call this time, following compatriot Grant Forrest last year.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Birds and other animals, bewildered by unforeseen night, start behaving strangely.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

He seemed quite bewildered, and his brows were gathered in as he said:—

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

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

At one point, amid the bewildering turmoil, one of the Politburo members simply shakes his head and says: “I’ve had nightmares that made more sense than this.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

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

Passengers on board the Nottingham service described the collision as "bewildering and frightening".

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

We’d left Georgia at the height of a peach-blossom summer and now stood in a bewildering dry, red fog that seemed like no particular season you could put your finger on.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver