flustering
Making someone nervous
Flustering is causing someone to become agitated, confused, or nervously unsettled.
The word captures the process of disrupting someone's composure: His direct questions were flustering her.
What's flustering to one person may not bother another—the word often implies a susceptibility to being thrown off balance.
Facial reddening from embarrassment
- mortifyingCausing acute embarrassment
- humiliatingCausing painful embarrassment
- abashingCausing acute embarrassment
- discomfitingCausing embarrassment or unease
shaming · red-faced · self-conscious · awkward · sheepish · tongue-tied · stammering · bashful
Producing rapid knocks
- unnervingCausing loss of composure
- unsettlingCausing unease or discomfort
- discomposingDisrupting mental equilibrium
- perturbingCausing mental disturbance
ruffling · disconcerting · disquieting · shaking · frazzling · bothering · troubling · upsetting
Causing mental confusion
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- muddlingConfusedly mixing up
- addlingConfusing or scrambling
disorienting · confounding · baffling · puzzling · dizzying · scattering · discombobulating · mystifying
Experiencing acute terror
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- stressingEmphasizing or feeling anxious
- agitatingDisturbing or stirring up
- alarmingProvoking fear or anxiety
unnerving · nerve-wracking · jittery · tense · edgy · restless · fidgety · overwrought
Wildly out of control
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
- hecticIntensely busy, almost overwhelming
- harriedPersistently tormented or pressured
- rushedDone with excessive speed
pressured · hurried · scrambling · whirlwind · tumultuous · overwhelming · swamped · besieged
blushing
Facial reddening from embarrassment
- mortifyingCausing acute embarrassment
- humiliatingCausing painful embarrassment
- abashingCausing acute embarrassment
discomfiting · shaming · red-faced · self-conscious · awkward · sheepish · tongue-tied · stammering · bashful · chagrined
rattling
Producing rapid knocks
- unnervingCausing loss of composure
- unsettlingCausing unease or discomfort
- discomposingDisrupting mental equilibrium
perturbing · ruffling · disconcerting · disquieting · shaking · frazzling · bothering · troubling · upsetting · disturbing
befuddling
Causing mental confusion
- bewilderingCausing utter confusion
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- muddlingConfusedly mixing up
addling · disorienting · confounding · baffling · puzzling · dizzying · scattering · discombobulating · mystifying · bamboozling
panicking
Experiencing acute terror
- worryingAnxious mental preoccupation
- stressingEmphasizing or feeling anxious
- agitatingDisturbing or stirring up
alarming · unnerving · nerve-wracking · jittery · tense · edgy · restless · fidgety · overwrought · twitchy
frenzied
Wildly out of control
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
- hecticIntensely busy, almost overwhelming
- harriedPersistently tormented or pressured
rushed · pressured · hurried · scrambling · whirlwind · tumultuous · overwhelming · swamped · besieged · inundated
flusteringcalming
Inducing a settled state
soothing · relaxing · tranquilizing · comforting · settling