Dumbfounders

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To astonish or bewilder someone to the point of speechlessness
2. To leave a person so shocked or surprised that they are unable to respond or react
3. To cause a state of utter confusion or amazement that temporarily renders someone unable to articulate their thoughts

Etymology: "Dumbfound" was formed in English, and "dumbfounder" is a variant built on it by adding the agent suffix "-er". The base verb blends "dumb", in its old sense of "unable to speak" (the same root that gives "dumb" as in mute), with "confound", which by the 1600s meant to bewilder or throw into confusion. Put together, to dumbfound someone is to strike them so thoroughly that speech fails. The "-er" ending is the same one found in "baker" or "singer", which is why "dumbfounder" reads as "one who dumbfounds". The source treats it as an alteration of the verb, so the plural "dumbfounders" simply follows the regular pattern for a noun ending in "-er", and it names whatever or whoever causes the stunned silence.

Synonyms: astound, stun

Antonyms: enlighten, inform