baffle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to confuse, bewilder, or perplex.
He was baffled by the technical language of the instructions.
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to frustrate or confound; thwart by creating confusion or bewilderment.
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to check or deflect the movement of (sound, light, fluids, etc.).
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to equip with a baffle or baffles.
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Obsolete. to cheat; trick.
verb (used without object)
noun
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something that balks, checks, or deflects.
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an artificial obstruction for checking or deflecting the flow of gases (as in a boiler), sounds (as in the loudspeaker system of a radio or hi-fi set), light (as in a darkroom), etc.
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any boxlike enclosure or flat panel for mounting a loudspeaker.
verb
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to perplex; bewilder; puzzle
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to frustrate (plans, efforts, etc)
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to check, restrain, or regulate (the flow of a fluid or the emission of sound or light)
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to provide with a baffle
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obsolete to cheat or trick
noun
Usage
What does baffle mean? Baffle means to confuse, bewilder, perplex, or confound.The word usually implies that such confusion causes someone to come to standstill—that it stumps them or makes them completely bewildered.You might be baffled by a difficult riddle or confusing instructions. People’s strange behavior might baffle you. The term is often used in the context of experts or scientists being baffled by some newly discovered thing or phenomenon—one they can’t figure out or comprehend.Someone or something that baffles can be described as baffling.As a verb, baffle can also mean to deflect or regulate the movement or flow of something, such as gas or light. The word can also be used as a noun referring to a component or part that does this.Example: This door is completely baffling! I can never figure out how to get it unlocked.
Related Words
See thwart.
Other Word Forms
- bafflement noun
- baffler noun
- baffling adjective
- bafflingly adverb
- bafflingness noun
- unbaffling adjective
- unbafflingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of baffle
First recorded in 1540–50; 1910–15 baffle for def. 8; perhaps from Scots bauchle “to disgrace, treat with contempt,” equivalent to bauch ( baff ) + -le
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last year's attempt was ended in the most extraordinary style by Djokovic who, playing through the pain of a torn hamstring, used his nous to baffle Alcaraz and come through a four-set thriller.
From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026
Eventually, Ver’s team and Bhirud hit on the deal that would baffle criminal tax experts.
From Salon • Jan. 23, 2026
He empathizes with people born in the 1940s who feel irrelevant, since even 20-year-olds now baffle him.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
The question of how these two—a vulgar revolutionary and a soft-spoken, polite epitome of the GOP old guard—have stayed together for so long, with such limited drama between them, can baffle observers.
From Slate • Jan. 20, 2025
But it’s not the only way we baffle them.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
