Bewilders

Bewilders is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb bewilder. To bewilder is to cause someone to become perplexed, confused, or puzzled, especially by something surprising, complex, or contradictory. The term implies a degree of confusion that makes understanding difficult, often temporarily so.

Etymology: Bewilder derives from be- (a prefix meaning thoroughly or around) attached to wild. Historically the sense shifted from “to make wild” to “to perplex” or “to confuse.”

Usage: Bewilders is used with singular third-person subjects, as in The riddle bewilders the participants. It can take a direct object (the thing that bewilders) and often describes situations, instructions, or phenomena that are hard to understand. The related verb bewilder appears in all common tense forms, with bewildering as the present participle and bewilderment as the noun form.

In tone, bewilderment can express mild confusion or stronger perplexity, depending on context. The word is formal enough for writing but can also appear in narrative to convey a character’s confusion.

Examples: The new policy bewilders employees. The contradictory statements bewilder the audience. The riddle bewilders even seasoned solvers.

See also: bewilder, bewildering, bewilderment, confuse, perplex, confound.