Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- completely puzzled or confused; perplexed.
verb (used with object)
- to confuse or puzzle completely; perplex: These shifting attitudes bewilder me.
verb (tr)
- to confuse utterly; puzzle
- archaic to cause to become lost
1680s, past participle adjective from bewilder (q.v.).
1680s, from be- “thoroughly” + archaic wilder “lead astray, lure into the wilds,” probably a back-formation of wilderness. An earlier word with the same sense was bewhape (early 14c.). Related: Bewildered; bewildering; bewilderingly.