Discombobulate

//ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɒb.jəˌleɪt// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To throw into a state of confusion; to befuddle or perplex. humorous, transitive

    "Can't you and I pretend to quarrel? A personal assault by you on me will wake these people up and discombobulate Goldsmith. Say the word—only don't hit too hard."

  2. 2
    be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly wordnet
  3. 3
    cause to be confused emotionally wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
bewilderconfuseaddleaddle the witsagitatebaffle

Example

More examples

"She tried to discombobulate me."

Etymology

1834 US, fanciful variant of discompose, discomfit, etc., originally discombobricate.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.