bemusev.
/bɪˈmjuːz/ 1. transitive. To make utterly confused or muddled, as with intoxicating liquor; to put into a stupid stare, to stupefy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > confuse, bewilder [verb (transitive)]
bewhapec1320
mara1350
blunder?a1400
mada1425
to turn a person's brainc1440
astonish1530
maskc1540
dare1547
bemud1599
bedazea1605
dizzy1604
bemist1609
muddify1647
lose1649
bafflea1657
bewildera1680
bother?1718
bemuse1734
muddlea1748
flurrya1757
muzz1786
muzzle1796
flusker1841
haze1858
bemuddle1862
jitter1932
giggle-
1734 A. Pope Epist. to Arbuthnot 15 A Parson, much be-mus'd in Beer.
1771 J. Foot Penseroso iv. 196 [With] fairy tales bemused the shepherd lies.
1847 H. Miller First Impressions Eng. xx. 393 The bad metaphysics with which they bemuse themselves.
2. humorously, To devote entirely to the Muses.
ΚΠ
1705 A. Pope Corr. 23 June (1956) I. 10 When those incorrigible things, Poets, are once irrecoverably Be-Mus'd.
Derivatives
beˈmused adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > [adjective]
bemazed?c1225
madc1300
maskedc1300
marreda1375
astoniedc1386
adasedc1450
astonished1513
moping1566
bewandered1574
dizzy1579
westy1598
night-wildered1652
disconcerted1686
muzzy1723
flustered1743
bewildered1760
flurried1775
muddled1790
thought-bewildered1796
bedazzled1805
muggy1824
mused1842
moony1847
beflustered1864
bemused1880
snarled1881
bedazed1882
bemuddled1883
disoriented1957
disorientated1959
wifty1973
1880 J. McCarthy Hist. our Own Times III. xxx. 2 A Prussian was regarded in England as a dull beer-bemused creature.
beˈmusing adj.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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