discombobulate
Syllables: dis·com·bob·u·late/ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɒb.jəˌleɪt/
discombobulate verb: to throw into a state of confusion; to befuddle or perplex.
Verb
discombobulate (third-person singular simple present discombobulates, present participle discombobulating, simple past and past participle discombobulated)
- To throw into a state of confusion; to befuddle or perplex.
- Can't you and I pretend to quarrel? A personal assault by you on me will wake these people up and discombobulate Goldsmith. Say the word—only don't hit too hard.1895, John Kendrick Bangs, “Story-tellers' Night”, in A House-Boat on the Styx, New York: Harper & Brothers, published 1901, page 132
- The notes zigzag in his pieces and discombobulate the ear, just as in 12-tone works.1999 December 13, Anthony Tommasini, “MUSIC REVIEW; Plenty Of Zigzags, But Hold The Angst”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page E3
- Antonyms:
- combobulate, recombobulate
Antonyms of discombobulate
Forms of discombobulate
| third-person singular present | discombobulates |
|---|---|
| present participle | discombobulating |
| past participle | discombobulated |
| past | discombobulated |
| alternative form | discomboberate |
| alternative form | discombulate |
| alternative form | discombobricate |
| alternative form | discombooberate |
Origin of discombobulate
Fanciful variant of discompose, discomfit, etc., originally discombobricate. The -bob- interfix may come from bobbery, meaning “commotion, noise”. First attested in 1834 in the United States.
Words formed from discombobulate
Questions about discombobulate
- What does discombobulate mean?
- Discombobulate means to throw into a state of confusion; to befuddle or perplex.
- What part of speech is discombobulate?
- Discombobulate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce discombobulate?
- Discombobulate is pronounced /ˌdɪs.kəmˈbɒb.jəˌleɪt/.
- What is the past tense of discombobulate?
- The past tense of discombobulate is discombobulated.
Words near discombobulate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: discombobulate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-discombobulate.ogg, en-au-discombobulate.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-discombobulate.wav.
Cite this entry: “discombobulate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discombobulate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.