nonplus

He found cross-examinations mentally invigorating, soon learned that he could nonplus storming attorneys if he kept smiling no matter how galling their insinuations.

From Time Magazine Archive

Here was a nonplus, not without its comical side.

From Chivalry by James Branch Cabell

Mr. and Mrs. Accleton were at somewhat of a nonplus as to the most feasible means of procuring the attendance of Sally.

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Eliza Leslie

Jupp was at a nonplus again; however, he tried to temporise with the mite, the more especially from his noticing that his little legs were quite mottled and his tiny fingers blue with cold.

From Teddy The Story of a Little Pickle by John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson

So The Revolution, from the start, will arouse, thrill, edify, amuse, vex and nonplus its friends.

From The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper

When was the last time you looked at the exquisite list of synonyms for the word “baffled”? They may be among the best in the English language: puzzled, nonplused, discombobulated, flummoxed, stumped, fogged, wildered, buffaloed.

From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2024

He isn’t nodding his head or pumping his fist or rapping the lyrics like no few of the V.I.P.s present; in fact he seems almost nonplused.

From New York Times ● Dec. 27, 2022

Nguyen, 43, is delighted by the attention the script has received, even while sounding a little nonplused.

From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2020

And this, in turn, has left some of his peers nonplused — grumbling at what they see as a flimsy theory or bewildered as to why Harvard’s top astronomer won’t shut up about aliens.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2019

“I sure could use some lumber for my front porch,” he said, nonplused.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Collections by new designer Demna are going down well with American consumers, but shoppers everywhere else are nonplussed so far.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

Currencies, bonds, and stocks appeared to be nonplussed.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

But Rotem Naftalovich, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, one of the three researchers involved, said the US food regulator was nonplussed by the admittedly "wonky" idea.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025

I was further nonplussed by a bizarre incident at a large end-of-summer meet.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2024

Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Weaver, however, verged on nonplussing co-hosts Brian Williams and Rachel Maddow, as well as reporter Steve Kornacki, MSNBC's millennial version of CNN's king-of-the-"Magic Wall" John King.

From US News ● Apr. 20, 2016

Our higher officials are fond as a rule of nonplussing their subordinates; the methods to which they have recourse to attain that end are rather various.

From Fathers and Children by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

While his powers of discussion of a subject were great, the power that especially characterized him was that of nonplussing his antagonist with a snub or a sarcasm.

From The Brothers' War by John Calvin Reed

He received visitors with the graciousness of the courteous head of a department, who resigns himself to listen to demands, allowing them to talk as he smiled faintly, and nonplussing them by his calmness.

From Une Vie, a Piece of String and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant

Dismissing this nonplussing phase, I turned to the subject of the gem once more.

From The Paternoster Ruby by Charles Edmonds Walk