1
: marked by confusion or bewilderment : dazed
… he was fumbling with the sheets, and looking down at them with a slightly bemused expression as though the stuff before him was in a foreign language …—
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren2
: lost in thought or reverie
… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.—Michael Straight
Michael Straight3
: having or showing feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing
This is not another of those now popular books about a bemused outsider's sojourn in rural France, brimming with colorful locals and heart-warming anecdotes.—J. D. McClatchy
J. D. McClatchy
bemusedly
bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 
adverb
bē-
Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.
—J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Examples of bemused in a Sentence
new federal regulations that the easily bemused should make no attempt to read and understand
Recent Examples on the Web
His manner with the girl is more bemused, placating.
—Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
Admittedly the punishment might have been more for the apparent threat than the taboo language, but she was docked a point — which happened to be match point, handing the win to a bemused Kim Clijsters — and later fined $10,500 (£6,300 at the time).
—Nick Miller, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
Americanah, though lighter fare, is also a book of characters and ideas — a romance as well as a bemused meditation on American notions of racial identity.
—Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2025
The photo showed an A4-sized printout of a cat's face, looking slightly bemused.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 1 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
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Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
Admittedly the punishment might have been more for the apparent threat than the taboo language, but she was docked a point — which happened to be match point, handing the win to a bemused Kim Clijsters — and later fined $10,500 (£6,300 at the time).
—Nick Miller, The Athletic, 21 Feb. 2025
Americanah, though lighter fare, is also a book of characters and ideas — a romance as well as a bemused meditation on American notions of racial identity.
—Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 24 Feb. 2025
The photo showed an A4-sized printout of a cat's face, looking slightly bemused.
—Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 1 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bemused
Cite this Entry
“Bemused.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bemused. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
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