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I need a colorful synonym for "dumbfounded" or "baffled". It's on the tip of my tongue. It's a multi-syllable word.

Context: "I checked with xxx and yyy (experts). They were both as dumbfounded as I was by So-and-So's letter, saying they've never heard of a request for m being treated as n.

(An administrator had confused two completely different rights and their legal underpinnings.)

Hornswaggled is the closest so far. (The dictionary I consulted said hornswoggled, and it gave a very different definition.) But I think there's something that's just one notch more mainstream than that, only that I can't remember it.

I'm seeing some suggestions that don't mean the same thing as dumbfounded/baffled. Here's the definition for dumbfounded: "to make speechless with amazement; astonish."

Here's a made-up similar context:

I double-checked with my botany professor. She was as ____________ as I was by your lecture notes, saying she's never seen a maple confused with an oak before.

EDIT: Guys, "hornswaggled/hornswoggled" is colorful. Astonished (for example) is not colorful.

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  • 3
    There's always "hornswaggled".
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 2:29
  • 2
    Please include context where the "colorful" synonym would be used. Otherwise, your question might be closed.
    – user140086
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 2:35
  • I'll give you my million-dollar opinion if you can just give me a feel for audience...are you writing it up for work? My hunch is yes, so I'll plead that 'hornswaggled' gets the axe. Although it's impossible to say it w/out smiling. :) *You're wise to be picky on this one, since many of the word choices are almost cartoonish...too boisterous if we're describing an adult who's contemplating something..if all the action is silently happening inside her head.
    – DigiGirl Media
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 3:28
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    @Jim - I did a little research on "hornswoggled" (apparently the correct spelling) after I placed the above comment. It did originally mean "tricked" or "deceived", as you say. However, many of my generation know it because "I'll be hornswoggled" was a common minced oath on TV westerns of the late 50s (thanks to the censorship of the era). In particular I'm thinking that the Andy Devine character in The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok used it regularly. (If not him then a similar character in a similar show.) And the movie Calamity Jane uses the word in this sense in 1953.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 13:17
  • 2
    dumbfounded seems colourful enough!
    – curiousdannii
    Commented Nov 18, 2015 at 4:08

11 Answers 11

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+50

Astonished, astounded, flabbergasted, flummoxed, gobsmacked, speechless, stupefied.

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  • I guess I'll accept gobsmacked. It feels like the same thing to me as dumbfounded, and it's more colorful. (Unfortunately, it was too strong and too colorful for me to use in my letter.) And Tahlia was the first to suggest it.
    – aparente001
    Commented Nov 20, 2015 at 17:57
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    @aparente001 which begs the question why did you set up a bounty in the first place? Tahlia's list was posted, precisely, four minutes after you submitted your question.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Nov 20, 2015 at 19:54
  • @Mari-LouA - I have been disappointed in the answers that were posted after I set up the bounty. Do you really see a post-bounty question that is better? I couldn't award the bounty to dumbfounded.
    – aparente001
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 3:24
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    You could have always just used a thesaurus instead of asking this site. If you were unhappy with the answers, you did not have to award anyone at all.
    – Tahlia Louise
    Commented Nov 21, 2015 at 3:27
  • I always find "Speechless" to be amusing when someone says it of themselves. But then, I am perfect.
    – user126158
    Commented Jul 18, 2016 at 21:41
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Consider,

discombobulated

to discombobulate: to confuse; befuddle AHD

obfusticated

: Dial. obfuscated; confused; bewildered M-W

confusticated

confusticate: Sl. to confuse or perplex; bewilder Random House

metagrabolized/metagrobolized

: totally perplexed and mixed up WordNet by Farlex

addlepated

: being mixed up : confused M-W

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  • "discombobulated" does seem to be a popular word on ELU, I think it's the only place I've ever heard it. I do love "confusticated" though :)
    – AndyT
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 10:31
  • Discombobulated was going to be my answer. It not only fits the definition for the OP's request, its just a funny word to say outloud.
    – O.M.Y.
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 0:51
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bamboozled

I double-checked with my botany professor. She was as bamboozled as I was by your lecture notes, saying she's never seen a maple confused with an oak before.

    1. to perplex; mystify; confound.
      Synonyms: befog, bewilder, puzzle, baffle, dumbfound.

Dictionary.com explains further

Bamboozle is one of those words that has been confounding etymologists for centuries. [...] By 1712, it had acquired the sense “to perplex; mystify.” It is not known for certain, but this sense might have emerged under the influence of the Scottish word bumbaze (or bombaze), meaning “to confuse,” similar in both sound and meaning. Given the befuddling qualities of alcohol, it's not too surprising to find that, in the 1800's, bamboozle showed up on college campuses as a slang term for “drunk.”

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Here is a variety of colorful words I found using Thesaurus.com:

thunderstruck [thuhn-der-struhk]

adjective

  1. overcome with consternation; confounded; astounded:

    He was thunderstruck by the news of his promotion

  2. Archaic. struck by a thunderbolt.

Thunderstruck

buffaloed, buffaloing

verb (used with object) Informal

  1. to puzzle or baffle; confuse; mystify:

    He was buffaloed by the problem.

  2. to impress or intimidate by a display of power, importance, etc.

    The older boys buffaloed him.

Buffaloed

bemuse[bih-myooz]

verb (used with object)

  1. to bewilder or confuse (someone).

Bemuse

flabbergast [flab-er-gast]

verb (used with object)

  1. to overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound

Flabbergast

disconcert [dis-kuh n-surt]

verb (used with object)

  1. to disturb the self-possession of; perturb; ruffle

    Her angry reply disconcerted me completely.

  2. to throw into disorder or confusion; disarrange

    He changed his mind and disconcerted everybody's plans

Disconcert

stupefy [stoo-puh-fahy, styoo-]

verb (used with object), stupefied, stupefying.

  1. to put into a state of little or no sensibility; benumb the faculties of; put into a stupor.

  2. to stun, as with a narcotic, a shock, or a strong emotion.

  3. to overwhelm with amazement; astound; astonish.

Stupefy

boggle [bog-uh l]

verb (used with object), boggled, boggling.

  1. to overwhelm or bewilder, as with the magnitude, complexity, or abnormality of

    The speed of light boggles the mind.

  2. to bungle; botch.

verb (used without object), boggled, boggling.

  1. to hesitate or waver because of scruples, fear, etc.

  2. to start or jump with fear, alarm, or surprise; shrink; shy.

  3. to bungle awkwardly.

  4. to be overwhelmed or bewildered.

Boggled

I personally thought these were "filled with color"

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You may be befuzzled.

Confused, baffled, bemused, perplexed.
"I don't know, you've got me all befuzzled!"
Urban Dictionary

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  • 1
    I think the original word would be befuddled. For anyone who wants a the reference.
    – Neptunian
    Commented Nov 11, 2015 at 10:35
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Here's the list of synonyms that Google suggests for dumbfounded :

  • astonished, astounded, amazed, staggered, surprised, startled, stunned, confounded, nonplussed, stupefied, dazed, dumbstruck, open-mouthed, agape, speechless, at a loss for words, thunderstruck, goggle-eyed, wide-eyed;
  • taken aback, thrown, shaken (up), unnerved, disconcerted, discomposed, bewildered;
  • (informal:) flabbergasted, floored, flummoxed, knocked for six, knocked sideways, knocked out, bowled over, blown away, unable to believe one's eyes/ears;
  • (informal:) gobsmacked

And some verbs:

  • take someone's breath away, take by surprise, stop someone in their tracks, strike dumb, leave open-mouthed, leave aghast, catch off balance;
  • (informal:) knock the stuffing out of, blow someone's mind

Doubtlessly I've repeated some of others' words, but I'm too lazy to check one by one. Sorry about that!

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One possibility no-one appears to have mentioned: stunned as a mullet, or like a stunned mullet, though I think this is Australian vernacular. From the Macquarie dictionary (3ed), under stunned:

phrase 2. like a stunned mullet, Colloquial a. in complete bewilderment or astonishment. b. in a state of inertia: *Now you sit there like a stunned mullet. - ʙᴀʀʀʏ ᴅɪᴄᴋᴇɴꜱ, 1985.

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  • What does mullet mean in that context? Surely, not the haircut,
    – wallyk
    Commented Nov 17, 2015 at 0:32
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    It's a fish. They look pretty stunned when you catch them and knock them on the head (I was going to use bonk rather than knock but I don't want to cause even more confusion given certain definitions of rhe word "bonk").
    – user45532
    Commented Nov 17, 2015 at 2:07
  • Interestingly enough, Macquarie (3ed, so it may be outdated) doesn't list that hairstyle as one of the definitions of mullet.
    – user45532
    Commented Nov 18, 2015 at 2:30
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Nonplussed: surprised and confused. Particularly nice, since a lot of the folks who use this word are a bit nonplussed by the actual definition.

Goggling: staring with amazement and wonder.

I've heard "Agog" used in a similar context, but it's not proper usage.

Additionally both Gobsmacked and Befuddled might work.

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  • Gobsmacked looks promising for my context. I will put it into my draft and then let it ferment a bit before I decide.
    – aparente001
    Commented Nov 14, 2015 at 16:25
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    Nonplussed means "less than enthused by" (or as the word itself implies, nothing added by) the subject in question. A synonym phrase for nonplussed might be "not impressed". It has nothing to do with the states of confusion or clarity.
    – O.M.Y.
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 0:44
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    @O.M.Y. You should check your definition of "nonplussed" again. That's at best an informal definition due to erroneous usage by people who don't actually know what nonplussed means. That's why I referenced the actual, as opposed to supposed, definition in my answer. Also, check up on agog as well. People tend to associate it with goggling since they're phonetically similar, but agog is appropriately used to describe an anticipatory or expectant state.
    – Misneac
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 0:58
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    Thanks for proving out my assessment of nonplussed though ;)
    – Misneac
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 1:09
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    @Misneac: I stand corrected! I just looked at the Oxford Dictionary definition for "nonplussed" and it confirms your definition (which I had never heard) but at the same time it points out that my definition has also become common usage in North America with the synonymous meaning of "unperturbed".
    – O.M.Y.
    Commented Nov 16, 2015 at 1:22
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Bedevilled: Be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

Example: These questions bedevil even the experts

I think this perfectly suits your context. ;)

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It's not too multi-syllabicated but how about: 'Stumped' or 'Flummoxed' ? (as per The Collins dictionary)

  • stumped
    at a loss, at one's wits' end, at sea, baffled, brought to a standstill, floored (informal) flummoxed, in despair, nonplussed, perplexed, stymied, uncertain which way to turn.
  • flummoxed
    at a loss, at sea, baffled, bewildered, foxed, mystified, nonplussed, stumped, stymied.
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Aporia
noun - an irresolvable internal contradiction or logical disjunction in a text, argument, or theory.

Hard to use in place of dumbfounded though, and it might baffle some readers.

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  • Was requesting an adjective.
    – aparente001
    Commented Jul 18, 2016 at 23:48

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