discomfitting
Making someone uncomfortable
Discomfitting means causing unease, embarrassment, or frustration.
A discomfitting question catches you off guard; a discomfitting silence makes everyone uncomfortable.
The word comes from discomfit, which originally meant to defeat utterly in battle but now usually means to disconcert or thwart: The candidate's discomfitting performance in the debate worried her supporters.
Lacking grace or ease
- embarrassingCausing awkward self-consciousness
- self-consciousUncomfortably aware of oneself
- humiliatingCausing painful embarrassment
- mortifyingCausing acute embarrassment
cringe · flustering · abashing · disconcerting · shamefaced · red-faced · squirming · blushing
Causing loss of composure
- disturbingCausing mental unease
- disquietingCausing unease or worry
- perturbingCausing mental disturbance
- disconcertingCausing unease or confusion
rattling · disorienting · jarring · off-putting · troubling · destabilizing · unbalancing · shaking
Causing utter confusion
- confusingCausing mental uncertainty
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- befuddlingCausing mental confusion
puzzling · disorienting · confounding · mystifying · nonplussing · flummoxing · discombobulating · muddling
Causing emotional turmoil
- troublingCausing unease or concern
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- nerve-wrackingCausing extreme anxiety
- tenseStrained or nervous
agonizing · harrowing · painful · wrenching · gut-wrenching · nauseating · sickening · dreadful
awkward
Lacking grace or ease
- embarrassingCausing awkward self-consciousness
- self-consciousUncomfortably aware of oneself
- humiliatingCausing painful embarrassment
mortifying · cringe · flustering · abashing · disconcerting · shamefaced · red-faced · squirming · blushing · chagrining
unnerving
Causing loss of composure
- disturbingCausing mental unease
- disquietingCausing unease or worry
- perturbingCausing mental disturbance
disconcerting · rattling · disorienting · jarring · off-putting · troubling · destabilizing · unbalancing · shaking · discomposing
bewildering
Causing utter confusion
- confusingCausing mental uncertainty
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
befuddling · puzzling · disorienting · confounding · mystifying · nonplussing · flummoxing · discombobulating · muddling · throwing
upsetting
Causing emotional turmoil
- troublingCausing unease or concern
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- nerve-wrackingCausing extreme anxiety
tense · agonizing · harrowing · painful · wrenching · gut-wrenching · nauseating · sickening · dreadful · awful
discomfittingreassuring
Restoring calm or confidence
comforting · soothing · consoling · calming · heartening
discomfittingreassuring
Restoring calm or confidence
emboldening · confidence-building · encouraging · validating · affirming
discomfittingreassuring
Restoring calm or confidence
affirming · validating · confidence-building · steadying · grounding
discomfort, uncomfortable, confectionery, confection, disconcert, discomforts, discomfit, discomfiture, discomfited