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discomfit

 - 3 dictionary results

dis⋅com⋅fit

  [dis-kuhm-fit]
Use discomfit in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to confuse and deject; disconcert: to be discomfited by a question.
2. to frustrate the plans of; thwart; foil.
3. Archaic. to defeat utterly; rout: The army was discomfited in every battle.
–noun
4. Archaic. rout; defeat.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME < AF descunfit, OF desconfit, ptp. of desconfire, equiv. to des- dis- 1 + confire to make, accomplish < L conficere; see confect

Related forms:
dis⋅com⋅fit⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. discompose, embarrass, disturb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To discomfit
dis·com·fit   (dĭs-kŭm'fĭt)   
tr.v.   dis·com·fit·ed, dis·com·fit·ing, dis·com·fits

  1. To make uneasy or perplexed; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass.

  2. To thwart the plans of; frustrate.

  3. Archaic To defeat in battle; vanquish.

n.  Discomfiture.

[Middle English discomfiten, from Old French desconfit, past participle of desconfire, descumfire, to defeat : des-, dis- + confire, to make (from Latin cōnficere, to prepare; see comfit).]
Usage Note: It is true that discomfit originally meant "to defeat, frustrate" and that its newer use meaning "to embarrass, disconcert" probably arose in part through confusion with discomfort. But the newer sense is now the most common use of the verb in all varieties of writing and should be considered entirely standard.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

discomfit 
c.1225, from O.Fr. desconfit, pp. of desconfire "to defeat, destroy," from des- "not" + confire "make, prepare, accomplish." Weaker sense of "disconcert" is first recorded 1530 in Eng., probably by confusion with discomfort (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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