befuddling
Making minds foggy
Befuddling means confusing or perplexing, leaving someone unable to think clearly.
What's befuddling is muddled and hard to make sense of: The instructions were befuddling—I gave up after step three.
A befuddling situation disorients; a befuddling explanation fails to clarify.
Causing mental confusion
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- puzzlingCausing confusion or bewilderment
- confoundingCausing surprise or confusion
bamboozling · flummoxing · vexing · mystifying · disorienting · addling · stupefying · discombobulating
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
- tangledTwisted confusedly together
knotty · complicated · multifaceted · elaborate · dense · impenetrable · inscrutable · opaque
Beyond easy comprehension
- crypticObscure in meaning
- puzzlingCausing confusion or bewilderment
- riddlingSpeaking in enigmas
- sphinx-likeImpenetrably mysterious in expression
unfathomable · inexplicable · obscure · veiled · ambiguous · elusive · secretive · unknowable
perplexing
Causing mental confusion
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- puzzlingCausing confusion or bewilderment
confounding · bamboozling · flummoxing · vexing · mystifying · disorienting · addling · stupefying · discombobulating · nonplussing
intricate
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- byzantineDauntingly intricate and devious
tangled · knotty · complicated · multifaceted · elaborate · dense · impenetrable · inscrutable · opaque · abstruse
mysterious
Beyond easy comprehension
sphinx-like · unfathomable · inexplicable · obscure · veiled · ambiguous · elusive · secretive · unknowable · paradoxical
- mysteriousmysterious, cryptic, enigmatic, arcane, obscure
- muddlingjumbling, scrambling, mixing up, disarranging, disorganizing
befuddlingclarifying
Making something understandable
enlightening · illuminating · explaining · elucidating · clearing up
muddle, muddled, befuddled, befuddle, befuddlement, muddling, fuddled, fuddle, muddler