as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
our grandmother seems a bit discombobulated by all of this birthday fuss
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Recent Examples of discombobulating
Thanks to their annual visits to Levi’s Stadium, the Seahawks are vastly better equipped to deal with both the electromagnetic field produced by the nearby substation and the lingering, discombobulating audio waves from the Flight Deck ride at Great America.
—
Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
Seeing Sparkle cry about Landfair’s experience — something that Landfair hadn’t fully come to terms with — was discombobulating and infuriating.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2026
And then there’s the cuteness of its progression indicator—verbs like crunching, moseying, perusing, reticulating, discombobulating and zesting.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 31 Jan. 2026
Watching from the perspective of 2025 is a discombobulating experience.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
Michael Nowels, Mercury News, 8 Feb. 2026
Seeing Sparkle cry about Landfair’s experience — something that Landfair hadn’t fully come to terms with — was discombobulating and infuriating.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2026
And then there’s the cuteness of its progression indicator—verbs like crunching, moseying, perusing, reticulating, discombobulating and zesting.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 31 Jan. 2026
Watching from the perspective of 2025 is a discombobulating experience.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for discombobulating
Verb
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As the castle’s internal order collapses under the weight of a string of baffling crimes, Araki strikes a fragile alliance with Kuroda Kanbei – a razor-minded captive languishing in his own dungeon – in a race to root out a traitor before Oda’s army closes in.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
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This inversion explains a host of baffling political and cultural phenomena of late.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But even more than engaging the big ideas that Emma’s revelation triggers — pun somewhat intended — Lee and Borli wanted to craft an experience that would mimic its main characters’ bewildering interiority.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
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There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Welcome to Asking for a Friend, a weekly series dedicated to solving the messy, awkward, and confusing parts of modern friendship.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
22 Apr. 2026
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But factors like confusing trailheads and limited provisions mean that going alone also comes with unique risks.—
Allison Forsyth,
Health,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
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New observations of Uranus's enigmatic outer rings have shown them to be even more mysterious than astronomers had thought, and their unusual properties hint at some puzzling things going on with the planet's system of moons.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
22 Apr. 2026
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That’s puzzling because DeSantis has been an enthusiastic supporter of tax relief.—
ORLANDO SENTINEL AND MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL BOARDS,
The Orlando Sentinel,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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That none of this has ever been clear to Gisèle is perplexing even to her.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
20 Feb. 2026
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While initially perplexing to the Messers and other anglers, some now believe this was part of Phillips’ long con.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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For someone who studied political science and theology, that shift has been disorienting.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
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For someone who has spent a lot of time in traditional museums with windowless galleries, the experience was disorienting in the best way.—
John Wogan,
Travel + Leisure,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Discombobulating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/discombobulating. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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