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Bemuse vs Quandary - What's the difference?

bemuse | quandary |

As a verb bemuse

is to confuse or bewilder.

As a noun quandary is

a state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.

bemuse

English

Verb

(bemus)
  • To confuse or bewilder.
  • * 1735' A parson much '''be-mus'd in beer. — Alexander Pope, ''Satires of Dr. Donne versified
  • * 1771' [With] fairy tales '''bemused the shepherd lies. — James Foot, ''Penseroso
  • * 1847' The bad metaphysics with which they '''bemuse themselves. — Hugh Miller, ''First Impressions of England and its people
  • (archaic, humorous) To devote to the Muses.
  • * 1705' When those incorrigible things, Poets, are once irrecoverably '''Be-mus'd . — Alexander Pope, ''Letters
  • quandary

    English

    Noun

    (quandaries)
  • A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement; a pickle; a predicament.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary . Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}
  • A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.
  • * 1995 , Robert Frost, Collected Poems, Prose & Plays , page 475
  • To quote the oracle of Delphi, / Love thou thy neighbor as thyself, aye, / And hate him as thyself thou hatest. / There quandary is at its greatest.
  • * 1995 , Douglas N. Walton & Erik C. W. Krabbe, Commitment in Dialogue: Basic Concepts of Interpersonal Reasoning? , page 54
  • But we may suppose that John has set his priorities in such a way that the quandary is spurious.
  • * 2000 , Carol Ann Strip & Gretchen Hirsch, Helping Gifted Children Soar ?, page 208
  • What a difficult quandary for a bright, talented child!
  • * 2004 , Jennifer Traig, Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood? , page 181
  • Then I would begin contemplating the next quandary : "Does the Torah say it's okay to portray a hooker, and is a heart of gold a mitigating factor?"

    Synonyms

    * perplexity * uncertainty

    References

    *

    See also

    * doubt * indecision * dilemma