bemuse

[bih-myooz] Origin

be·muse

[bih-myooz]
verb (used with object), be·mused, be·mus·ing.
to bewilder or confuse (someone).

Origin:
1695–1705; be- + muse

be·muse·ment, noun

amuse, bemuse (see synonym note at amuse).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Bemuse is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
bemuse (bɪˈmjuːz)
 
vb
(tr) to confuse; bewilder
 
be'musement
 
n
 
be'musing
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bemuse
"to make utterly confused," from be- + muse (cf. amuse), attested from 1735 but probably older, as Pope (1705) punned on it as "devoted utterly to the Muses."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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