Every month or quarter or so I like to share the definition and maybe the background of a word (i.e. the etymology). The third quarter 2020 word was “flummox”.
Definition of flummox
He was flummoxed by the legal jargon.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flummox
Etymology
1837, cant word, also flummux, of uncertain origin, probably risen out of a British dialect (OED finds candidate words in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, southern Cheshire, and Sheffield). “The formation seems to be onomatopœic, expressive of the notion of throwing down roughly and untidily” [OED]. Related: Flummoxed; flummoxing.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/flummox
Synonyms for flummox
Synonyms
- addle,
- baffle,
- bamboozle,
- beat,
- befog,
- befuddle,
- bemuse,
- bewilder,
- buffalo,
- confound,
- confuse,
- discombobulate,
- disorient,
- fox,
- fuddle,
- get,
- gravel,
- maze,
- muddle,
- muddy,
- mystify,
- perplex,
- pose,
- puzzle,
- vex
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