nonplussed
adjective

- surprised, confused, and not certain how to react.

Cambridge Dictionary

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 - Unfazed, unaffected, or unimpressed

Merriam-Webster

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Note: The use of nonplussed to mean “unimpressed” is an Americanism that has become increasingly common in recent decades and now appears frequently in published writing, however, it continues to be widely regarded as an error with its original (UK) meaning still prevalent.

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ORIGIN

Nonplussed: from the Latin non plus meaning “no more, no further.” Nonpluss can be used as a transitive verb or adjective to mean perplexed, bewildered, not sure how to react.

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LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

While traveling through a small Swiss town, the Swiss physicist Auguste Piccard, in need of a shave, visited a local barber:

“Make sure you give me a close shave,” he said, settling into a chair. “My beard grows so quickly that two hours after I’ve had a shave, I need another.”

The barber examined him with understandable skepticism. “If your beard grows in two hours,” he declared, “I’ll give you a second shave for free.”

Some time later, Auguste left the shop, clean-shaven and satisfied. Two hours later, however, the barber was NONPLUSSED to see his customer return with a thick growth of stubble.

“So,” the man (actually Auguste’s identical twin brother, Jean Felix) asked sitting down for a free shave. “Do you believe me now?”

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SYNONYMS

at a loss, astonished, astounded, baffled, bewildered, mind-boggled, confounded, dazed, dumbfounded, floored, mystified, puzzled, stumped, stunned, stupefied, taken aback, thrown into tizzy, wonderstruck

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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY’S CONVERSATION:

“I was completely NONPLUSSED by his reply.”

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VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

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Paul Smith