BEWILDERING Synonyms: 148 Similar and Opposite Words

bewildering 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of bewildering

as in perplexing

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Dissimilar Words

bewildering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of bewilder

as in baffling

to throw into a state of mental uncertainty the change in policy seems to have bewildered many of our customers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of bewildering

Adjective

Here, clouds of stars and dark interstellar dust combine in a bewildering array as seen in binoculars and telescopes. — Joe Rao, Space.com, 26 June 2026 Trump’s proposal for a National Garden of American Heroes, where visitors could commune with statues of 250 historic figures, is simply bewildering. — Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 8 June 2026

Verb

There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place. — Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2026 McNutt housed some 700 kids — about one-third of the population of French Lick — and Bird found the campus outside the dormitory walls bewildering. — Keith O'Brien, Rolling Stone, 22 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for bewildering

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bewildering

Adjective

Bohm’s Phillies career has been sometimes frustrating, sometimes exciting, sometimes perplexing.

— Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Orbital imagery has shown that unlike its heavily cratered sibling moon, Phobos, which means fear in ancient Greek, Deimos is much smoother — and covered in a perplexing layer of dust and rubble called regolith.

— Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of perplexing

Verb

Despite some protests about a dog contributing to the game, Buddy — clad in a bright blue jersey and two pairs of basketball kicks — scores baffling basket after baffling basket, leaving the other team shocked.

— Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026
While Loathe’s baffling compositional choices may jump out first, the album’s most glaring flaw is its production.

— Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 16 July 2026

Definition of baffling

Adjective

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a hodgepodge of financial advice and confusing diagrams held together by anecdotes from Kiyosaki’s childhood.

— Christopher Cox, Vanity Fair, 26 Aug. 2026
Disability rights advocates fear the changes to special education oversight weaken the federal safety net for autistic students and others with disabilities, making these systems more confusing when families need help enforcing students’ rights.

— Claire Sibonney, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of confusing

Verb

Over the course of her prolific career, Zambreno has written 10 books — each as puzzling and surprising as the last.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
The bizarre body plan Before this discovery, there was a puzzling 80-million-year gap in the fossil record.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of puzzling

Adjective

Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.

— Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026

Definition of confounding

Adjective

Xabi Alonso’s Madrid, for stretches of last season, looked tactically muddled and defensively exposed.

— Sam Leveridge, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Despite being trained on the glorious quirks of humankind’s creative canon, the models push our ersatz artistic output into a bland, muddled middle ground.

— Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of muddled

Adjective

At this point in the draft, every RB has questions, but volume remains king, and Harvey could be in a frustrating battle for touches all season.

— Jonathan Rubin, Charlotte Observer, 26 Aug. 2026
Bohm’s Phillies career has been sometimes frustrating, sometimes exciting, sometimes perplexing.

— Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of frustrating

Adjective

The second system being tracked by the NHC was a weak area of low pressure with disorganized cloudiness and showers located in the northeastern and north-central Gulf.

— Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Aug. 2026
Flea markets are sometimes viewed as disorganized, cluttered, and full of junk.

— Abbie Harrison, Martha Stewart, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of disorganized

Browse Nearby Words

bewilderedness

bewildering

bewilderment

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“Bewildering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bewildering. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of bewildering

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

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