Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective same as dumbfounded.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Shocked and speechless.
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of dumfound.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Holt was astonished -- "dumfounded" is the word that he used in telling it -- yet seems to have retained a certain intelligent curiosity.

    Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories Ambrose Bierce 1878

  • "We were kind of dumfounded by what happened," Christian Delisio, the suspect's second cousin, said of the judge's decision yesterday.

    unknown title 2009

  • "We were kind of dumfounded by what happened," Christian Delisio, the suspect's second cousin, said of the judge's decision yesterday.

    unknown title 2009

  • A stream of short stories flowed from his pen, and he branched out into the easier forms of verse - the kind he saw printed in the magazines - though he lost his head and wasted two weeks on a tragedy in blank verse, the swift rejection of which, by half a dozen magazines, dumfounded him.

    Chapter 11 2010

  • Another example: I am dumfounded by this "new" discovery of the low status of teaching and how it could help sustain a more respectable profession.

    Shaun Johnson: The Same Stories, Over and Over Again Shaun Johnson 2011

  • They are going to be just as dumfounded and confused and I am after hearing her babble on and on sounding as dumb as ever.

    Media shut out from Palin's Hong Kong speech 2009

  • This issues is about a HUGE EGO dumfounded that the whole world doesn't know who he is and expected special treatment ....... it's not about race.

    Obama stands by 'acted stupidly' comment 2009

  • The car dashed on, leaving the flurry of combat far behind, and its dumfounded passengers never dreamed that the quiet young man and the pretty working-girl sitting in the corner on the outside seat had been the cause of the row.

    Chapter 42 2010

  • “Certainly,” said Wenz, swallowing a mouthful of Cucumbertini, taking a step away from the dumfounded conversation circle.

    Cucumbertini Larry Strattner 2011

  • Another example: I am dumfounded by this "new" discovery of the low status of teaching and how it could help sustain a more respectable profession.

    Shaun Johnson: The Same Stories, Over and Over Again Shaun Johnson 2011

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