maffledadj.
/ˈmaf(ə)ld/, U.S. /ˈmæf(ə)ld/, Scottish English /ˈmaf(ə)ld/ Scottish and English regional.
Confused, muddled.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > [adjective]
yblenta1225
amazed?c1225
wory?c1225
mingedc1275
willc1300
distracta1340
confounded1362
confuse1362
distraitc1374
whapedc1374
wilsomea1375
poseletc1390
distraught1393
perplexa1425
wildc1440
wiltc1440
dodemusydc1450
mistedc1450
unclearc1475
mazed1493
perplexeda1500
traversablea1500
mazyc1525
entangled1561
muddy?1571
distraughted1572
moidered1587
wondering1592
puzzled1598
plundered1601
distracted1604
uncollected1613
wildered1642
turbid1647
tosticated1650
fuddled1656
pixie-led1659
puzzling1692
bumbazed1720
maffled1820
obfuscated1822
confused1825
muddly1829
mystified1833
maze1842
obfusticatedc1844
head-scratching1849
clueless1862
flustery1862
befogged1868
deurmekaar1871
mosy1887
skewgee1890
buggered-up1893
confusticated1898
smock-ravelled1904
messed-up1913
screwed-up1943
hung up1945
lost1967
gravelled-
1820 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) III. 186 She was, what they call in the country, maffled; that is, confused in her intellect.
1845 T. De Quincey Coleridge & Opium-eating in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 125/1 The Westmorland people..expounded his condition to us by saying that he was ‘maffled’; which word means ‘perplexed in the extreme’.
1886 E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew II. x. 211 She did not smell of drink, and was sober though decidedly maffled.
1965 P. Jennings Living Village (1968) 62 Life for the small farmer is a maffled (breathless) round of activity.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1820