dazzle
/ˈdaz(ə)l
/verb [with object]
1(Of a bright light) blind (a person or their eyes) temporarily: she was dazzled by the headlights...
- Oh, to relive all those golden memories of nights spent with our eyes dazzled by flickering light, our shoes stuck to the floor.
- A huge, dark shape passed by - the bright lights dazzled my eyes, shining from between parallel bars.
- Another possibility is that Mr Rogers was momentarily dazzled by the lights of oncoming traffic.
Synonyms
blind temporarily, deprive of sight
1.1Amaze or overwhelm (someone) with a particular impressive quality: I was dazzled by the beauty and breadth of the exhibition...
- The vampire dropped to the floor, dazzling James with her beauty.
- He stood more than twice her size, yet she showed no fear of him, nor did she seem dazzled by his beauty.
- We are dazzled by the exotic regalia in which Indian rulers impressed the British court.
Synonyms
overpower, overcome, overwhelm, impress, bedazzle, strike, move, stir, affect, touch, sweep someone off their feet, awe, overawe, leave speechless, take someone's breath away, spellbind, hypnotize, fascinate, take aback, daze, stagger, floor, amaze, astonish
informal bowl over, blow away, knock out
noun [mass noun]
Brightness that blinds someone temporarily: I screwed my eyes up against the dazzle...
- I need to constantly remind myself where I came from; I don't want to forget that because it is very easy to forget in the whole dazzle and the glamour of my job.
- It sent the cave in to a sparkling blue dazzle, as the walls were made of a sapphire like stone.
- It wasn't Oscar's best work - low on razzle and with a noticeable dearth of dazzle.
Synonyms
glare, flare, blaze, brightness, brilliance, gleam, flash, shimmer, radiance, shine
Derivatives
dazzlement
/ noun ...- The Ligeti, done with the soloist Christian Tetzlaff, was sheer dazzlement, a brilliantly ingenious manipulation of remote sonorities.
- But at night they saw the world in an infinite variety of blacks, whites, and grays, and with a sharpness and clarity that the dazzlement of color often hides from normal-sighted people.
- The 50th Anniversary of Taylor's own company joyously offers a body of work here-including a small, precious dazzlement of masterpieces - to be maintained.
Origin
Late 15th century (in the sense 'be dazzled'): frequentative of the verb daze.