dazzle

English

Etymology

daze +‎ -le, a frequentative form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdæzəl/
• Rhymes: -æzəl

Verb

dazzle (third-person singular simple present dazzles, present participle dazzling, simple past and past participle dazzled)

1. (transitive) To confuse the sight of by means of excessive brightness.

   Dazzled by the headlights of the lorry, the deer stopped in the middle of the street.

   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     Those heavenly shapes / Will dazzle now the earthly, with their blaze / Insufferably bright.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir H. Taylor

     An unreflected light did never yet / Dazzle the vision feminine.

2. (transitive, figuratively) To render incapable of thinking clearly; to overwhelm with showiness or brilliance.

   Synonyms: impress, overpower

   The delegates were dazzled by the originality of his arguments.

3. (intransitive) To be overpowered by light; to be confused by excess of brightness.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Francis Bacon

     An overlight maketh the eyes dazzle.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden

     I dare not trust these eyes; / They dance in mists, and dazzle with surprise.

Derived terms

• dazzler
• dazzlement

Translations

confuse the sight

• Arabic:

  Moroccan Arabic: عْمى‎ (ʕma)

• Bulgarian: заслепявам (bg) (zaslepjavam)
• Catalan: enlluernar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使目眩 (zh) (shǐ mùxuàn)

• Czech: oslnit (cs)
• Dutch: verblinden (nl), blenden
• Finnish: sokaista (fi), häikäistä
• French: éblouir (fr)
• Gallurese: abbaglià
• German: blenden (de)
• Hebrew: סנוור‎ (he) (sinvér)
• Ido: dazlar (io)
• Italian: abbagliare (it), abbacinare (it)

• Japanese: 目を眩ませる (めをくらませる, me o kuramaseru), 眩惑させる (ja) (げんわくさせる, genwaku saseru)
• Latvian: apžilbināt
• Maori: kōrekoreko, whakakōpura
• Ngazidja Comorian: uzusa
• Norwegian: blende, blinde (no)
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Russian: ослепля́ть (ru) impf (oslepljátʹ), ослепи́ть (ru) pf (oslepítʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese: alluinai

  Logudorese: illughinare

• Sassarese: abbaglià,
• Spanish: deslumbrar (es), obnubilar (es), encandilar (es)
• Swedish: blända (sv)
• Walloon: asblawi (wa)
• Welsh: dallu (cy)

figuratively

• Bulgarian: смайвам (bg) (smajvam), поразявам (bg) (porazjavam)
• Catalan: enlluernar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使驚奇 (zh), 使惊奇 (zh) (shǐ jīngqí)

• Czech: oslnit (cs)
• Finnish: sokaista (fi)
• French: éblouir (fr)
• German: verblüffen (de)
• Ido: blindigar (io)

• Italian: impressionare (it), abbagliare (it)
• Japanese: 夢中にさせる (ja) (むちゅうにさせる, muchū ni saseru)
• Latvian: apžilbināt
• Norwegian: blende
• Portuguese: ofuscar (pt)
• Russian: поража́ть (ru) impf (poražátʹ), порази́ть (ru) pf (porazítʹ), изумля́ть (ru) impf (izumljátʹ), изуми́ть (ru) pf (izumítʹ)
• Spanish: empaparotar, apabullar (es), obnubilar (es), encandilar (es)
• Walloon: asblawi (wa), esblawter (wa)
• Welsh: syfrdanu (cy)

Noun

dazzle (plural dazzles)

1. A light of dazzling brilliancy.
2. (figuratively) Showy brilliance that may stop a person from thinking clearly.
3. (uncommon) A herd of zebra.
   • 1958, Laurens Van der Post, The lost world of the Kalahari: with the great and the little memory (1998 David Coulson edition):

     We were trying to stalk a dazzle of zebra which flashed in and out of a long strip of green and yellow fever trees, with an ostrich, its feathers flared like a ballet skirt around its dancing legs, on their flank, when suddenly […]

   • 2009, Darren Paul Shearer, In You God Trusts, page 176:

     Zebras move in herds which are known as "dazzles." When a lion approaches a dazzle of zebras during its hunt, […]

   • 2010, Douglas Rogers, The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africa, page 22:

     I reached the lodge as a dazzle of zebras trotted across the dirt road into thorny scrub by the game fence, and a lone kudu gazed up at me from the short grass near the swimming pool.

Synonyms

• (group of zebras): herd, zeal.

Translations

a very bright light

• Maori: kōnakonako

• Russian: искря́щийся свет m (iskrjáščijsja svet)