befuddle

/bɪˈfʌdəl/

Other forms: befuddled; befuddling; befuddles

To befuddle is to confuse. A sticky exam question can befuddle you, or an awkward question about your whereabouts the night before (how can you remember? You were befuddled, after all.)

In sixteenth century Britain a popular thing to do (about the only thing to do) after the hogs had been fed and the chickens put away for the night was fuddle — in other words get pretty drunk. Befuddled was simply the confused state too many pots of mead put your poor brain in, and that's still its basic meaning today. Nowadays, befuddle has a more general meaning of confusion and uncertainty not necessarily caused by too much booze.

Definitions of befuddle

1. verb

   be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
   “This question befuddled even the teacher”

   synonyms: bedevil, confound, confuse, discombobulate, fox, fuddle, throw

   confuse, disconcert, flurry, put off

   cause to feel embarrassment

   types:

   demoralise, demoralize

   confuse or put into disorder

   amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex

   be puzzling or bewildering to

   disorient, disorientate

   cause to be lost or disoriented

   mix up, stump

   cause to be perplexed or confounded

   riddle

   set a difficult problem or riddle

   elude, escape

   be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
2. verb

   make stupid with alcohol
   synonyms: fuddle

   type of:

   inebriate, intoxicate, soak

   make drunk (with alcoholic drinks)