discombobulate

WOTD - 9 May 2006    

English

Etymology

A 19th-century US coinage, probably based on discompose, discomfit, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɒb.jəˌleɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

discombobulate (third-person singular simple present discombobulates, present participle discombobulating, simple past and past participle discombobulated)

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

Antonyms

• recombobulate

Translations

to befuddle

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: zmást (cs), vyvést z míry (žertovně) (cs) Dutch: in de war schoppen, verstoren

Finnish: hämmentää (fi) French: décontenancer (fr), déconfire (fr), déconcerter (fr) Italian: scombussolare (it) Serbian: збунити (sr) (zbuniti)