Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. to cause to be confused; confuse emotionally.
WordNet 3.0
- v. be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
- v. cause to be confused emotionally
Etymologies
- A 19th-century US coinage, probably based on discompose, discomfit, etc. (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps alteration of discompose. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Years ago, while living in California, I heard the word "discombobulate'" and have been using it ever since, when in a state of chaos.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“LEXINGTON, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Tennessee's Ron Slay vowed to "discombobulate" Kentucky, but the Volunteers could not slow down the Wildcats 'express.”
“Camara joked that he did not know what the word "discombobulate" meant.”
“The term comes from "discombobulate", which means to confuse or frustrate, and Google.”
“discombobulate' into separate conversations with each of the other celebrities without them suspecting that she was up to something.”
“Far more than sex, it's the teeth brushing, the peeing, the tiny intimacies that discombobulate me.”
“Running off to the race track -- on their wedding day, no less -- is sure to discombobulate him.”
“Their dark skins discombobulate those badly infected with the ideological virus of political correctness.”
“Forbes: Let's then get to the whole thing on "too big to fail," or perhaps a better way, too complex to fail because you don't have to be very big to as we saw with long-term capital management to discombobulate the whole system.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘discombobulate’.
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Nincompoopery
Words that clatter and tumble
nincompoop, pettyfoggery, gaberlunzie, cattywampus, weisenheimer, katzenjammer, hecklephone, loblolly, carriwitchet, flibbertyjibbet, hornswoggle, thimblerigger and 161 more...
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phrontistery - d
from phrontistery.info
dysteleology, dyslogistic, dystectic, dysphoria, dysphonia, dystopia, dysphemism, dystocia, dyslogia, dysaesthesia, dyschromatopic, dysbulia and 624 more...
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Bob
He's everywhere.
bob, Bob, bobolink, nabob, bobbing, apple bobbing, Bob Dylan, ragtag and bobtail, plumb bob, kabob, discombobulate, earbob and 106 more...
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Situation Normal
inspired by Mistakes Were Made. Words for things going wrong in a manner particularly violent, stupid, soul-crushing, boggling, grandiose, or any combination of these qualities.
fuckup, snafu, fiasco, abortion, miscarriage, implosion, contretemps, imbroglio, brouhaha, melee, kerfuffle, mayhem and 156 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 185 more...
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Super Geeky Word List
as a techie, I run across nerd words.
brane, polyamide, phb, PHB, BOFH, redditor, grammar nazi, phaser, trending, SPOILER ALERT, surface mount, FMEA and 73 more...
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words my students purport to love
utilize, pudding, Indeed, kumquat, spleen, schadenfreude, slush, juxtapose, discombobulate, brackish, resuscitate, vapid
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Shadowkeir's list
This list, the one shown below this very message, is a collection of words that you cannot begin to fathom how much I adore. The list will also feature atithesis and contrasting words such as the t...
wishful, anticlimactic, forte, monchromatic, septic, wonderous, isoclinal, deformed, disintergrate, favourite, laughable, awe-inspiring and 250 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
bumwank, calamity, recalcitrant, gayenese, jeeze, nonsense, flabbergasted, juxtapose, procrastinating, ossanity, biffing, loser and 1972 more... -
Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
thekatespanos's list
pomposity, gaggle, scintilla, lemming, bilk, vanquish, conflate, plenary, verisimilitude, perspicacious, rattletrap, obdurate and 325 more...
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Logodaedalus' Lexical Locutionary
Discombobulating the illiterate since the middle of the last century.
adiaphora, agitprop, alliteration, apophthegm, autarky, bête noire, bezoar, biorhythm, braggadocio, canaille, confabulate, confrère and 332 more...
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btkuhn's list
persnickety, perspicuity, perspicacity, augur, churlish, enervate, schadenfreude, esoteric, lionize, dispositive, capricious, bibulous and 129 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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ChalkItUp's list
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GRE list 1
Bloviate, Bacchanalia, mirth, covet, inconsequential, prescient, heresy, revelry, modality, gentrify, vitiate, tantalize and 182 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for discombobulate.
yarb I can't imagine using it professionally, but I use it quite a lot at home.
I did use paramour today in an official report. Jan 4, 2013
ry I can attest to its use in professional and semi-professional settings to refer to automotive, computer, and other equipment in which something is munged, borked, banjaxed or otherwise bollixed. In fact I'm adding it to my situation-normal list. Jan 4, 2013
bilby I find this kind of word almost unusable. In a serious context it's too ridiculous. Flip the coin and in a light-hearted context it smacks of trying-too-hard-ness. Jan 4, 2013
alexz A previous co worker liked to use this word in 2011. Looking this up in Google books, this goes back to 1871 http://goo.gl/riNOS 'Going on a mission' by Paul Cobden Jan 4, 2013
Silly.Girl02 i seriously never thought this was a word til a friend of mine used it, and i laughed really hard Jan 2, 2011
beecher Great word. I just discovered this site and I love it. Check out -
http://www.walkinthewords.blogspot.com
for more fun word stuff Apr 19, 2008
omnidopp but if you want to undiscombobulate, combobulating doesn't seem to be an option... Mar 21, 2008
isteratter A funny-sounding word, usually used lightheartedly, but which I use to describe a upsetting and frightening inability to think.
Dec 20, 2007