Baffle Meaning, Usage, and Examples

Meaning 1：confuse completely (baffle)

baffle 🔊

/ˈbæfəl/

vt.

To make someone completely unable to understand or explain something.

Person baffled by complex diagram scratching head

confuse completely 🔊

➕

/kənˈfjuːz kəmˈpliːtli/

vt.

To cause someone to be completely unable to understand or explain something; to perplex or bewilder.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Of uncertain origin; possibly from Scottish 'bauchle' (to ridicule), evolving to mean 'to confuse'.

💡 Mnemonic

A baffle blocks sound; it also blocks comprehension. Be baffled!

📖 Example

The new smartphone's complex menu system baffled my grandfather, who just wanted to make a simple phone call. 🔊 The complex menu of the new smartphone completely confused my grandfather, who only intended to make a simple call.

🔗 Collocations

baffle the experts – to cause experts to be unable to understand

baffle investigation – to make investigation difficult or impossible

baffle logic – to defy logical explanation

🔄 Synonyms

bewilder (vt.) – to cause someone to become confused, especially with many conflicting things

perplex (vt.) – to cause someone to feel confused and anxious because they cannot understand something

confound (vt.) – to cause surprise and confusion in someone, especially by acting in an unexpected way

🚫 Antonyms

enlighten (vt.) – to give someone understanding or knowledge about something

clarify (vt.) – to make something easier to understand

explain (vt.) – to make something clear or easy to understand

🌱 Derivatives

baffling (adj.) – causing someone to be completely unable to understand

bafflement (n.) – a state of being completely confused

baffled (adj.) – feeling or showing confusion

📖 Cultural Story

First recorded in 1540s meaning 'to disgrace publicly'. Modern sense of 'confuse' emerged by 1800s, common in puzzles and mysteries.