bum·fuz·zle

(bŭm′fŭz′əl)

tr.v. bum·fuz·zled, bum·fuz·zling, bum·fuz·zles Chiefly Southern US

To confuse: "The American people must be totally bumfuzzled; [we] keep announcing surpluses and we keep having budget fights" (Bill Clinton).

[Probably bum- (alteration, perhaps influenced by bum, of bamboozle) + fuzzle (perhaps blend of fuddle fuzzy).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bumfuzzle

(ˈbʌmˌfʌzəl)

vb (tr)

to confuse

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive

Codswallop and maverick are in there, but bumfuzzle - to be in a state of confusion - is not.

Those finding the word sausage themselves over a black pudding funny are in danger of wetting; Apparently, there are people who like to be tied up and have clay thrown at them. They're Playdough masochists

But the stratification and specs of categories often bumfuzzle writers.

Developmental Editor Advises Authors on Crossing Genres

At a Pentagon briefing, (then) commander of the USAF Space Command, Gen Richard Meyers, announced that, on October 1, the Space Command would begin to integrate Cyber Network Attack as "another arrow in the quiver." In Kosovo, offensive information warfare was considered and even tried to a very limited degree, but legal and ethical questions limited how much was done (see "Cyber Warfare Rules 'Bumfuzzle' DOD Lawyers," JED, January 2000, p.

Cyber Offensive Mission to Begin

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