bemuse

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be·muse

(bĭ-myo͞oz′)

tr.v. be·mused, be·mus·ing, be·mus·es

1. To cause to be bewildered; confuse.

2. To occupy the attention of; absorb or engross: The book bemused him for days.

3. Usage Problem To cause to be mildly or wryly amused: "Unlike William McKinley, whose priggishness bemused him, Roosevelt had no compunctions about smoking cigars in public" (Joseph Conlin).

be·mus′ed·ly (-myo͞o′zĭd-lē) adv.

be·muse′ment n.

Usage Note: The word bemused is sometimes used to mean "amused, especially when finding something wryly funny," as in The stream of jokes from the comedian left the audience bemused, with some breaking out into guffaws. Most of the Usage Panel does not like this usage, with 78 percent rejecting this sentence in our 2005 survey. By contrast, 84 percent accepted a sentence in which bemused means "confused."

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bemuse

(bɪˈmjuːz)

(tr) to confuse; bewilder

beˈmusement n

beˈmusing adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•muse

(bɪˈmyuz)

v.t. -mused, -mus•ing.

1. to bewilder; confuse.

2. to cause to become lost in thought.

[1695–1705]

be•mus′ed•ly (-ˈmyu zɪd li) adv.

be•muse′ment, n.

bemuse

Past participle: bemused
Gerund: bemusing

Imperative
bemuse
bemuse

Present
I bemuse
you bemuse
he/she/it bemuses
we bemuse
you bemuse
they bemuse

Preterite
I bemused
you bemused
he/she/it bemused
we bemused
you bemused
they bemused

Present Continuous
I am bemusing
you are bemusing
he/she/it is bemusing
we are bemusing
you are bemusing
they are bemusing

Present Perfect
I have bemused
you have bemused
he/she/it has bemused
we have bemused
you have bemused
they have bemused

Past Continuous
I was bemusing
you were bemusing
he/she/it was bemusing
we were bemusing
you were bemusing
they were bemusing

Past Perfect
I had bemused
you had bemused
he/she/it had bemused
we had bemused
you had bemused
they had bemused

Future
I will bemuse
you will bemuse
he/she/it will bemuse
we will bemuse
you will bemuse
they will bemuse

Future Perfect
I will have bemused
you will have bemused
he/she/it will have bemused
we will have bemused
you will have bemused
they will have bemused

Future Continuous
I will be bemusing
you will be bemusing
he/she/it will be bemusing
we will be bemusing
you will be bemusing
they will be bemusing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been bemusing
you have been bemusing
he/she/it has been bemusing
we have been bemusing
you have been bemusing
they have been bemusing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been bemusing
you will have been bemusing
he/she/it will have been bemusing
we will have been bemusing
you will have been bemusing
they will have been bemusing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been bemusing
you had been bemusing
he/she/it had been bemusing
we had been bemusing
you had been bemusing
they had been bemusing

Conditional
I would bemuse
you would bemuse
he/she/it would bemuse
we would bemuse
you would bemuse
they would bemuse

Past Conditional
I would have bemused
you would have bemused
he/she/it would have bemused
we would have bemused
you would have bemused
they would have bemused

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb

bemuse - cause to be confused emotionally

discombobulate, bewilder, throw

discomfit, discompose, untune, upset, disconcert - cause to lose one's composure

bemuse

verb puzzle, stun, confuse, overwhelm, stump, baffle, bewilder, muddle, daze, confound, perplex, mystify, flummox, nonplus, amaze It doesn't bemuse readers with pompous language.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

bemuse

verb

To dull the senses, as with a heavy blow, a shock, or fatigue:

bedaze, benumb, daze, stun, stupefy.

Chiefly Regional: maze.

Translations

brouiller troubler

bemuse

[bɪˈmjuːz] VT → aturdir, confundir

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bemuse

[bɪˈmjuːz] vt (= bewilder) → décontenancer, déconcerter
He was rather bemused by children
BUT Les enfants le rendaient plutôt perplexe.

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References in periodicals archive ?

The credit industry and other data-handlers behave as they do bemuse in many cases, no one but the victim cares about identity theft.

You own you: when identity thieves open an account in your name, it should be the bank's problem, not yours

Fast-growing fish therefore get "penalized" evolutionarily bemuse they quickly become large enough to get caught, says David O.

Shrinking at sea: harvesting drives evolution toward smaller fishes

I think that people will no longer shun doing abortions bemuse they fear the ostracism of their peers.

Reflections of a provider before and since Roe: from the Voices of Choice archive. (Viewpoints)

I certainly remember joining community service clubs supervised by my math teacher bemuse my geometry grade needed a little "lift." Educators are entrusted with a great deal of power and responsibility.

Word of the day: it's a simple idea that has multiple meanings. (Speaking Out)

The taxpayer has much to gain and little to lose bemuse he does not forfeit any decision-making authority; mediation is nonbinding and the mediator does not have the authority to settle or render a decision that will negatively affect the taxpayer.