befuddles
Throws for loop
Befuddles is the third-person singular form of befuddle, meaning to confuse or muddle someone's thinking.
When something befuddles you, it leaves you unable to think clearly or understand what's happening.
The tax code befuddles even experienced accountants.
The word often implies a thorough confusion rather than mild puzzlement, and can suggest that someone has been rendered mentally foggy by alcohol, complexity, or sheer bewilderment.
Chronic heavy drinker
- stupefyOverwhelm with astonishment
- addledConfused, unable to focus
- tipsyMildly intoxicated
- woozyDizzy and confused
groggy · hazy · foggy · dazed · bleary · clouded · stupor · lightheaded
Cause utter confusion
- baffleConfuse or perplex
- perplexCause utter confusion
- flummoxTo thoroughly confuse
- confoundTo thoroughly puzzle
stump · addle · discombobulate · bamboozle · nonplus · faze · dumbfound · vex
Something hard to fathom
- riddlePuzzling question to solve
- conundrumPerplexing problem or question
- crypticObscure in meaning
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
arcane · esoteric · unfathomable · impenetrable · opaque · inexplicable · obscure · sphinx
inebriate
Chronic heavy drinker
woozy · groggy · hazy · foggy · dazed · bleary · clouded · stupor · lightheaded
bewilder
Cause utter confusion
confound · stump · addle · discombobulate · bamboozle · nonplus · faze · dumbfound · vex · obfuscate
enigma
Something hard to fathom
inscrutable · arcane · esoteric · unfathomable · impenetrable · opaque · inexplicable · obscure · sphinx · abstruse
- stunsamazes, astounds, dumbfounds, stuns, shocks
befuddlesclarifies
Makes more understandable
elucidates · illuminates · enlightens · clears up · makes clear