bemused

adjective

be·​mused bi-ˈmyüzd 

bē-

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

2

: lost in thought or reverie

… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.

—Michael Straight

3

: 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

bemusedly

bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 

bē-

adverb

Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.

—J. K. Rowling

Synonyms

• addle
• addled
• addlepated
• bedeviled
• befogged
• befuddled
• bewildered
• bushed [chiefly Australian]
• confounded
• confused
• dazed
• distracted
• dizzy
• dopey
• dopy
• fogged
• mixed-up
• muddleheaded
• muzzy
• pixilated
• pixillated
• punch-drunk
• punchy
• raddled
• shell-shocked
• silly
• slaphappy
• spaced-out
• spaced
• spacey
• spacy
• stunned
• stupefied
• zonked
• zonked-out

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

The contrast between Blethyn’s Cynthia, all twitching nerves, emotionally raw and vulnerable, and the calm, restrained, often bemused performance of Jean-Baptiste as Hortense forms the emotional core of the film. —Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Oct. 2024

At the dining table in Turin, L. seemed bemused by all the attention, and said little. —D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024

In the period where Boone and Cole provided differing accounts, the Red Sox seemed upset about Devers getting hit by a pitch and then bemused about the odd free pass, especially during the seven or eight minutes the slugger spoke. —Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024

Eventually the Red Sox wound up with the last set of laughs, going from bemused to finishing off a rout. —Larry Fleisher, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1734, in the meaning defined at sense 1