Discomfit vs Bemuse - What's the difference?
discomfit | bemuse |
(archaic) To defeat completely; to rout.
* 1611 , Bible: King James Version , (w) 17:13,
* (Edmund Spenser)
To defeat the plans or hopes of; to frustrate.
* 1886 , (Andrew Lang) The Mark Of Cain , chapter 10,
(proscribed) To embarrass greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert.
* 1853 , , Villette , chapter 20,
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
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
As verbs the difference between discomfit and bemuse
is that discomfit is (archaic) to defeat completely; to rout while bemuse is to confuse or bewilder.As an adjective discomfit
is (obsolete) discomfited; overthrown.discomfit
English
Verb
(en verb)- And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
- And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field.
- In these disguises, Maitland argued, he would certainly avoid recognition, and so discomfit any mischief planned by the enemies of Margaret.
- She is a pretty, silly girl: but are you apprehensive that her titter will discomfit the old lady?
Usage notes
While widely used to mean “to embarrass, to disconcert”, prescriptive usage considers this a mistake (confusion with discomfort), and restrict discomfit to meaning “to defeat”.“Discomfit zone]”, January 4, 2008, [http://www.grammarphobia.com/ Grammarphobia