Literary notes about flummoxed (AI summary)
In literature, the term "flummoxed" is frequently employed to convey a state of bewilderment or perplexity that infuses a moment with both comic and dramatic tension. Authors use it to illustrate characters caught off guard by unexpected happenings—as when a character’s surly demeanor gives way to undeniable confusion [1] or when an individual finds themselves speechless in the face of absurdity [2]. It also serves to highlight the varying depths of mental disarray, ranging from mild surprise to profound disorientation, as seen when the puzzlement extends to reaction against forces beyond one's control [3] or amidst chaotic social interactions [4].
- The woman looked very surly, but flummoxed.
— from Beaumaroy Home from the Wars by Anthony Hope - I tell you I was so flummoxed I stood there like a stuck pig—I don't know what I said next; honest, I don't.
— from The Disturbing Charm by Berta Ruck - If I'm a judge, Mr Twisden, he was taken aback, not to speak in a guilty way, but he was, as you might say, flummoxed.
— from Plays : Fifth Series by John Galsworthy - I am all too flummoxed by the masquerade in the tourney round about me.
— from Fantasia of the Unconscious by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
