Basic Details
Word: Bewildered
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Completely puzzled and confused, often because too many things are happening at once.
Synonyms: confused, puzzled, baffled, perplexed
Antonyms: clear-headed, unperturbed
How to Spell Bewildered
Syllables: be - wil - dered
Tricky part: There is one l and one d in the middle, and the ending is -ered. Students often drop the e before the final d (bewilderd) or swap er to re.
Watch out for: bewilderd, bewildred, bewillered
Memory tip: Someone lost in the wild is bewildered: be + wild + ered. The word wild sits whole inside it.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The tourists looked bewildered by the maze of lanes in Old Delhi.
Example 2: Riya was bewildered when her phone switched itself to a language she could not read.
Example 3: A bewildered puppy stood in the middle of the busy market.
Fun Fact
The prefix be- often adds the sense of 'thoroughly' or 'all over'. It does that in bewilder, befuddle, bedazzle and bespatter.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. lieutenent 2. bewildered 3. vaccum 4. mischievious
a) completely puzzled and confused
b) causing trouble in a playful way
c) an officer in the army or navy ranking below a captain
d) a space with no air or matter in it
Show answer
a) completely puzzled and confused. Bewildered is the safe one; mischievous never has an i before -ous, vacuum needs two u's and lieutenant ends in -ant.
Word Connection
Choose the word opposite in meaning to bewildered as used in the sentence:
Faced with the strange new question pattern, most of the students looked bewildered.
a) baffled
b) perplexed
c) clear-headed
d) puzzled
Show answer
c) clear-headed. A clear-headed student understands what is going on, which is just what a bewildered one cannot do.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
The pilgrims stood rddebweeil at the crossroads, unsure which path led to the temple.
a) bewailed
b) bewildered
c) wilderness
d) bewitched
Show answer
b) bewildered. Pilgrims unsure of their path are confused, and the jumble, with its two d's and three e's, spells bewildered.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters:
bew_ld_r_d
a) e, e, e
b) i, e, a
c) i, e, e
d) i, a, e
Show answer
c) i, e, e. Hear the parts be-WIL-dered: the i of wil, then the two e's of -dered.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A bewildered look tells you that a person is ____.
a) confused
b) sleepy
c) proud
d) angry
Show answer
a) confused
2. The feeling of being bewildered is called ____.
a) bewilderment
b) bewilderance
c) bewilderation
d) bewilderness
Show answer
a) bewilderment
