stupefy

/ˌstupəˈfaɪ/

Other forms: stupefied; stupefying; stupefies

Don't be embarrassed if the magician's tricks stupefy you. It means you're amazed. Who doesn't want to be stopped in his tracks sometimes?

Stupefy looks a lot like stupid. But intelligence has nothing to do with being stupefied, which comes from Latin and means "to make stunned." Anyone can be stupefied by something scary, mysterious, or just plain remarkable. Think of tourists visiting New York City for the first time. They stare up at the skyscrapers, lost in wonder. Taking that moment to let themselves be amazed? Nothing stupid about it, unless they step on someone's foot, of course.

Definitions of stupefy

1. verb

   make someone dazed or foolish
   synonyms: besot

   type of:

   desensitise, desensitize

   cause not to be sensitive
2. verb

   make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow
   synonyms: stun, zonk

   type of:

   immobilise, immobilize

   cause to be unable to move
3. verb

   be puzzling or bewildering to
   synonyms: amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, vex

   types:

   mix up, stump

   cause to be perplexed or confounded

   riddle

   set a difficult problem or riddle

   elude, escape

   be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

   defy, refuse, resist

   elude, especially in a baffling way

   type of:

   bedevil, befuddle, confound, confuse, discombobulate, fox, fuddle, throw

   be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly