EN

Synonyms for mystify

25 synonyms
6 antonyms
1 meaning

verb

Most common

bewilder perplex confuse confound

All synonyms

Verb

1. Bewilder

bewilder, perplex, confuse, confound, amaze, bamboozle informal, obfuscate, puzzle, distract, baffle, vex, get, non-plus, stick, beat, pose, gravel, flummox, stupefy, dumbfound, befuddle, embarrass

Other

mislead, shuffle, hood-wink

Antonyms

enlighten, clarify, explain

All antonyms of mystify →

Definitions

v. 1
To thoroughly confuse, befuddle, or bewilder.
Solar eclipses continued to mystify ancient humans for thousands of years.

Forms

Past participle: mystified
e.g. mystified → bewildered, perplexed, confused, confounded…

Example sentences

confuse One should not confuse education with job training.
mislead He did everything he could to mislead the police.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
mystify		rising
confuse		steady
confound		rising
perplex		steady
bewilder		steady
mislead		steady

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: get¹, vex¹
4 letters: beat¹, pose¹
5 letters: stick¹, amaze²
6 letters: puzzle², gravel², baffle²
7 letters: confuse², shuffle², mislead², perplex², stupefy, flummox²
8 letters: distract², confound², bewilder³, befuddle³
9 letters: embarrass³, obfuscate³, bamboozle, dumbfound²

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (amaze² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: mystifier
Italiano: mistificare
Español: mistificar
Deutsch: mystifizieren