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
Robert Penn Warren2
: lost in thought or reverie
… as distant and bemused as a Professor Emeritus listening to the prattling of his freshman class.—Michael Straight
Michael Straight3
: 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
J. D. McClatchy
bemusedly
bi-ˈmyü-zəd-lē 
adverb
bē-
Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.
—J. K. Rowling
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
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
When the camera cut to a bemused Pete Buttigieg, the next Democrat in line to deliver opening remarks, Harris could still be heard cracking up offscreen, her laughter falling lightly on the mayor of South Bend like a warm spring rain.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2024
But what really makes the movie sing is the narcissistic monologues by Kemp, the access to his company, and interviews with Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck, who seems mostly bemused at Kemp’s aspirations to challenge him.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for bemused 
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
When the camera cut to a bemused Pete Buttigieg, the next Democrat in line to deliver opening remarks, Harris could still be heard cracking up offscreen, her laughter falling lightly on the mayor of South Bend like a warm spring rain.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2024
But what really makes the movie sing is the narcissistic monologues by Kemp, the access to his company, and interviews with Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck, who seems mostly bemused at Kemp’s aspirations to challenge him.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for bemused
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bemused.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bemused
Cite this Entry
“Bemused.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bemused. Accessed 8 Oct. 2024.
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