forvirret

Forvirret is a Danish adjective meaning bewildered or confused. It describes a person who cannot make sense of a situation or an outcome that is unclear, as well as a situation itself that seems hard to understand. The term is common in everyday speech as well as media reporting.

The word derives from the verb forvirre, to confuse, with the suffix -et forming the past participle used as an adjective. It is closely related to cognates in closely related Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian and Swedish, where similar forms exist (forvirret in Norwegian and förvirrad in Swedish).

As an adjective, forvirret inflects for gender and definiteness in Danish. For example: en forvirret mand (an confused man) versus den forvirrede mand (the confused man). It can also be used predicatively: Jeg blev forvirret (I became confused).

Usage notes and examples: Instruktionerne var lange og detaljerede, og jeg blev forvirret af dem. Det var en forvirret situation, som krævede en ny gennemgang af processen. In journalistic and informal contexts, forvirret commonly conveys a spontaneous sense of being puzzled or unsure rather than a clinical condition.

See also: forvirring (confusion), forvirrede, forvirrede tilstande. Linguistic relatives across the Nordic region include Swedish förvirrad and Norwegian forvirret, which reflect shared roots in the verb forvirre.