baffle

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbæfl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbæf(ə)l/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æfəl
• Hyphenation: baf‧fle

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly:^[1]

• from French bafouer, baffoüer (“to abuse, revile; to confuse, baffle; to deceive; to flout; to scorn”), imitative of someone making a disdainful sound by expelling air quickly through pouted lips (compare Occitan baf (interjection expressing disdain)); or
• from French befer, beffer, beffler (“(obsolete) to deceive; to mock, ridicule”) (compare Old French befe, beffe, buffe (“deception; mockery”); beferie (“deceit; quibbling”)), possibly from bafouer: see above.

The noun is derived from the verb.^[2]

baffle (third-person singular simple present baffles, present participle baffling, simple past and past participle baffled)

1. (transitive)
   1. To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle. [from 17th c.]

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:confuse

      Antonyms: clarify, enlighten, unbaffle

      I am baffled by the contradictions and omissions in the instructions.

      They were baffled as to how the confusion could have arisen.

      • 1694 May 9 (Gregorian calendar); first published 1698, Robert South, “Christianity Mysterious, and the Wisdom of God in Making It so, Proved in a Sermon Preached at Westminster-Abbey, April 29. 1694.”, in Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions, volume III, London: […] Tho[mas] Warren for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, page 294:

        [T]he full, Entire knovvledge of it [the gospel] may be one Principal Part of our Felicity and Bleſſedneſs hereafter. All thoſe Heights and Depths vvhich vve novv ſtand ſo much amazed at, and vvhich ſo confound and baffle the ſubtleſt and moſt Piercing Apprehenſion, ſhall then be made Clear, Open and Familiar to us.

      • a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, § 27, pages 84–85:

        VVhen the Mind, by inſenſible degrees, has brought it ſelf to Attention and cloſe Thinking, it vvill be able to copie vvith Difficulties, and maſter them vvithout any Prejudice to it ſelf, and then it may go on roundly. Every abſtruſe Problem, every intricate Queſtion vvill not baffle, diſcourage or break it.

      • 1843, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Mexican Hieroglyphics—Manuscripts—Arithmetic—Chronology—Astronomy”, in History of the Conquest of Mexico, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: Harper and Brothers, […], →OCLC, book VI (Siege and Surrender of Mexico), pages 112–113:

        [A]s their calendar, at the time of the Conquest, was found to correspond with the European, (making allowance for the subsequent Gregorian reform,) they would seem to have adp[ted the shorter period of twelve days and a half, which brought them, within an almost inappreciable fraction, to the exact length of the tropical year, as established by the most accurate observations. […] Such was the astonishing precision displayed by the Aztecs, or, perhaps, by their more polished Toltec predecessors, in these computations, so difficult as to have baffled, till a comparatively recent period, the most enlightened nations of Christendom!

      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Chase—Second Day”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 621:

        There's a riddle now might baffle all the lawyers backed by the ghosts of the whole line of judges:—like a hawk's beak it pecks my brain.

   2. (archaic) To defeat, frustrate, or thwart (someone or their efforts, plans, etc.); to confound, to foil. [from 17th c.]

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:defeat

      • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, “Intitl’d to the Prince of Wales.”, in ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, page 219:

        And ſhould the Parlament, endu'd vvith Legiſlative povver, make our Lavvs, and be after to diſpute them peice-meale vvith the reaſon, conſcience, humour, paſſion, fanſie, folly, obſtinacy, or other ends of one man, vvhoſe ſole vvord and vvill ſhall baffle and unmake vvhat all the vviſdom of a Parlement hath bin deliberatly framing, vvhat a ridiculous and contemptible thing a Parlament vvould ſoon be, […]

      • 1691 November 11 (Gregorian calendar); first published 1694, Robert South, “An Account of the Nature and Measures of Conscience: In Two Sermons on 1 John iii. 21. Preached before the University at Christ-Church, Oxon. The First Preached on the 1st of Nov. 1691 [Julian calendar].”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume II, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, page 424:

        It vvas the very Courſe vvhich our Saviour [Jesus] himſelf took, vvhen the Devil plied him vvith Temptation: Still he had a ſuitable Scripture ready to repel and baffle them all, one after another; every pertinent Text urged home being a direct Stab to a Temptation.

      • 1710 April 29 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [pseudonym; Joseph Addison; Richard Steele], “Tuesday, April 18, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 160; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume II, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC, page 409:

        It hath always been my way to baffle reproach with silence; though I cannot but observe the disingenuous proceedings of this gentleman, who is not content to asperse my writings, but hath wounded, through my sides, those eminent and worthy citizens, Mr. John Morphew, and Mr. Bernard Lintot.

        The spelling has been modernized.

      • 1751 December 7 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 177. Tuesday, November 26. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VII, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1752, →OCLC, page 135:

        Chartophylax then obſerved hovv fatally human ſagacity vvas ſometimes baffled, and hovv often the moſt valuable diſcoveries are made by chance.

      • 1790, William Cowper, “On the Receipt of My Mother’s Picture out of Norfolk. The Gift of My Cousin Ann Bodham.”, in Poems […], London: […] [F]or J[oseph] Johnson, […] by T[homas] Bensley, […], published 1806, →OCLC, page 579:

        The meek intelligence of thoſe dear eyes / (Bleſt be the art that can immortalize, / The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim / To quench it) here ſhines on me ſtill the ſame.

      • 1826, [Benjamin Disraeli], “A New Character”, in Vivian Grey, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book II, page 125:

        Mrs. Felix Lorraine looked at her noble relatives, and shrugged up her shoulders with an air which baffleth all description.

      • 1832, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter XIII, in The Heidenmauer; or, The Benedictines. A Legend of the Rhine. […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey & [Isaac] Lea […], →OCLC, page 173:

        He is […] forgiving to a degree that might lead us to call him easy, but for a consistency that never seemeth to yield to any influence of season, events, or hopes. Truly, this is a man that baffleth all my knowledge!

      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 164:

        Long before he [William III of England] reached manhood he knew how to keep secrets, how to baffle curiosity by dry and guarded answers, how to conceal all passions under the same show of grave tranquillity.

      • 1865 November, James Anthony Froude, “The Influence of the Reformation on the Scottish Character: A Lecture Delivered at Edinburgh, November 1865”, in Short Studies on Great Subjects. […], volume I, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1867, →OCLC, page 162:

        Elizabeth [I], it might have been thought, would have had no particular objection; but Elizabeth had aims of her own which baffled calculation.

      • 1884 October, Camoens [i.e., Luís de Camões], “[Canzons.] Canzon XIX. Crecendo vai meu mal d’ora em ora, (To a Dame Living in the Country).”, in Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl., The Lyricks. […], volume II, London: Bernard Quaritch, […], →OCLC, , stanza IV, page 350:

        Yet, more Love's forceful course / Confirms my faithful will and confidence, / The more thou bafflest me with coy pretence.

      • 1898, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Cæsar and Cleopatra. Notes to Cæsar and Cleopatra.”, in Three Plays for Puritans: The Devil’s Disciple, Cæsar and Cleopatra, & Captain Brassbound’s Conversion, London: Grant Richards, […], →OCLC, page 211:

        It may have been the failure of Christianity to emancipate itself from expiatory theories of moral responsibility, guilt, innocence, reward, punishment, and the rest of it, that baffled its intention of changing the world.

      • 1915 April, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “The Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts)”, in Fifty-one Tales, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, →OCLC, page 79:

        [S]he besought them to bring her a live sphinx; and therefore they went to the menageries, and then to the forests and the desert places, and yet could find no sphinx. […] But they were not men that it is easy to baffle, and at last they found a sphinx in a desert at evening watching a ruined temple whose gods she had eaten hundreds of years ago when her hunger was on her.

      1. (specifically, nautical) Of weather or wind: to hinder or prevent (a ship or its crew) from advancing.
         • 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XV, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 232:

           "She [the ship] behaves nobly," observed the captain, stepping aft to the binnacle, and looking at the compass; "if the wind does not baffle us, we shall weather."

   3. (technology) To dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control (a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound).
      • 1924 August, John Crowe Ransom, “Good Ships”, in Chills and Fever: Poems, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 54:

        Fleet ships encountering on the high seas / Who speak, and unto eternity diverge— / These hailed each other, poised on the loud surge / Of one of Mrs. Grundy's Tuesday teas, / Nor trimmed one sail to baffle the driving breeze.

   4. (obsolete)
      1. To deceive or hoodwink (someone); to gull. [16th–18th c.]
         • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, “Of the Differences in Point of Church Government”, in ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC, pages 162–163:

           [H]ee [the king] vvas never ſvvorn to his ovvn particular conſcience and reaſon, but to our conditions as a free people; vvhich requir'd him to give us ſuch Lavvs as our ſelves ſhall chooſe. This the Scots could bring him to, and vvould not be baffl'd vvith the pretence of a Coronation Oath, after that Epiſcopacy had for many yeares bin ſettl'd there.

         • 1659, J[ohn] M[ilton], Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcombe] for L[ivewell] Chapman […], →OCLC, page 65:

           And yet they cry out ſacrilege, that men vvill not be gulld and baffl'd the tenth of thir eſtates by giving credit to frivolous pretences of divine right.

         • 1726, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Cloven-foot Walking about the World without the Devil, (viz.) of Witches Making Bargains for the Devil, and Particularly of Selling the Soul to the Devil”, in The Political History of the Devil, as well Ancient as Modern: […], London: […] T. Warner, […], →OCLC, part II (Of the Modern History of the Devil), page 319:

           [A]t laſt he vvas driven to confeſs the Truth, told the horrid Bargain he had made, and hovv the Devil often promis'd him a Covv, but never gave him one, except that ſeveral Times in the Morning early he found a Covv put into his Yard, but it alvvays prov'd to belong to ſome of his Neighbours: […] if he [the Devil] had not had a Mind to cheat or baffle the poor Man, vvhat need he have taken a Covv ſo near home?

      2. Followed by away or out: to deprive of (something) through cheating or manipulation; also (followed by out of), to deprive of something by cheating or manipulating (someone).
         • 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], “To the Parlament of England, with the Assembly”, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:

           [T]he Lavv of God pardoning and unpardoning hath bin ſhamefully branded, for vvant of heed in gloſſing, to have eluded and baffl'd out, all Faith and chaſtity from the marriagebed of that holy ſeed, vvith politick and judicial adulteries.

         • 1673, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] V. Of Piety.”, in The Ladies Calling. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theatre, →OCLC, part I, page 95:

           [A]ll VVriters of Ethics have uniformly declared no ſervility to be ſo ſordid and intolerable, as that of the vicious man to his Paſſions and Luſts. Top the latter, he confronts the miſcheif of being a ſlave to every man elſe; for ſuch he certainly is, vvhom the fear of ſuffering can baffle out of any thing he thinks juſt and honeſt.

         • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXXIII. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume II, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 228:

           Parents vvill not be baffled out of their children by impudent gentlemen; nor is it fit they ſhould.

2. (intransitive)
   1. To expend effort or struggle in vain. [from 19th c.]

      Synonym: (Northern England) maffle

      The ship, baffling with the winds, moved not an inch.

      • 1864, Thomas Carlyle, “Friedrich in Silesia; Unusually Busy”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume IV, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XV, page 103:

        [He] let the Pandours baffle about, checked only by the fortified Towns, and more and more submerge the Hill Country.

   2. (obsolete) To argue or complain in a petty or trivial manner; to quibble.
      • 1658, John Gauden, “[Impenitence Riseth from Unbelief]”, in Funerals Made Cordials: In a Sermon Prepared and (in Part) Preached at the Solemn Interment of the Corps of the Right Honorable Robert Rich, Heir Apparent to the Earldom of Warwick. […], London: […] T. C. for Andrew Crook, […], →OCLC, page 47:

        But if any one of thoſe ſharp arrovvs of divine truth vvhich are ſhot from heaven, vvhich thou haſt heard of, ſeen, and received into thy breſt, vvhich thou canſt vvith no colour of reaſon deny, or repel, and vvhich vvith much adoe thou baffleſt and ſhuffleſt off to a kind of cavilling unbelief; I ſay, if but one of them had vvell fixed it ſelfe upon thy heart and conſcience, it vvould move thee to the ſpeedy thoughts and eſſays of repentance; […]

      • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “Sermon VII. Of the Duty of Prayer.”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume I, London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 157:

        Were it not strangely absurd and unhandsome to say, I cannot wait on God, because I must speak with a friend; […] [I]s it then just or seemly, by such comparisons to disparage his favor, by such pretences to baffle with his goodness?

• baffol, bafful (both obsolete)

baffle (countable and uncountable, plural baffles)

1. (countable, technology)
   2. A device used to dampen, muffle, restrain, or otherwise control the movement of a fluid, or waves travelling through a fluid such as light or sound; specifically, a surface positioned inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one place to another without preventing motion altogether.

      sound baffle

      Tanker trucks use baffles to keep the liquids inside from sloshing around.

   3. (US, dialectal, coal mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.
2. (uncountable) Bewilderment, confusion; bafflement; (countable) an instance of this.
   1. (by extension, countable) A barrier designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.
3. (obsolete, countable) An argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint; a quibble.
   • 1661 December 20 (Gregorian calendar); first published 1698, Robert South, “False Foundations Removed, and True Ones Laid for such Wise Builders as Design to Build for Eternity. In a Sermon Preached at St Mary’s Oxon, before the University, Decem. 10. 1661.”, in Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions, volume III, London: […] Tho[mas] Warren for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, page 200:

     As to Nonplus an Ariſtotle vvould look, not only like a Slur to a particular Philoſopher, but like a Baffle to Philoſophy it ſelf.

• bafflectomy
• baffle painting
• bafflestone

• → French: baffle
• → Spanish: bafle

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly from Scots bauchle (“to annoy; to cause harm or trouble to; to disgrace; to jilt; to treat with contempt”),^[1][3] from bauchle (“useless or worn-out person or thing; clumsy work, bungle; clumsy or untidy person; contemptible person; laughing stock”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to bauch (“feeble, sorry; backward, foolish”, adjective), possibly related to Old Norse bagr (“awkward, clumsy”), bāgr (“hard up, poor; uneasy”)^[4]

The noun is derived from the verb.^[2]

baffle (third-person singular simple present baffles, present participle baffling, simple past and past participle baffled) (transitive, obsolete)

1. To publicly disgrace (someone); specifically, a recreant knight. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 27, page 443:

     And after all, for greater infamie, / He by the heeles him hung vpon a tree, / And baffuld ſo, that all vvhich paſſed by, / The picture of his puniſhment might ſee, / And by the like enſample vvarned bee, / Hovv euer they through treaſon doe treſpaſſe.

   • 1612–1613, Nathan Field, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Honest Mans Fortune”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act III, scene, page 161, column 2:

     Then have the coppies of it paſted on poſts, / Like Phamplet titles that ſue to be ſold; / Have his diſgrace talk for Tobacco ſhops, / His picture bafful'd.

   • 1660, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] V. Of the Second Advantage, Wealth.”, in The Gentlemans Calling, London: […] T[imothy] Garthwait […], →OCLC, page 71:

     'Tis, they ſay, a Maxim among the Svvordsmen, That he that has once been baffled, is ever after an incompetent Challenger: […]

   • 1724, Flavius Josephus, “The First Book. Containing the History of the Jews, from the Time of the Maccabees to the Siege of Jerusalem, by Titus Vespasian.”, in Roger L’Estrange, transl., The Wars of the Jews: […], 4th edition, London: […] Tho[mas] Norris, […], →OCLC, page 45:

     After this Antiochus remembring hovv often he had been baffled and diſgraced by Simon, the Father of Hyrcanus, reſolved novv to be revenged on the Son; […]

2. (generally) To treat (someone) with contempt; to disgrace; also, to speak of (someone or something) in contemptuous terms; to speak ill of, to vilify. [16th–17th c.]
   • 1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […]‎^[1], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC:

     Should we (as you) borrow all out of others, and gather nothing of our selues, our names would be baffuld on euerie booke-sellers stall, and not a chandler's mustard-pot would wipe his mouth with our wast paper.

   • 1609, Jos[eph] Hall, “A Serious Disswasive from Poperie”, in The Peace of Rome. Proclaimed to All the World, by Her Famous Cardinall Bellarmine, and the No Lesse Famous Casuist Navarre. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Macham, →OCLC, page 32:

     A Religion, that baffoules all temporall Princes, making them ſtand bare-foote at their great Biſhops gate, lye at his foote, holde his ſtirrup, yea their ovvne Crovvnes at his Curteſie, exempting all their Eccleſiaſticall Subiects from their iuriſdiction, and (vvhen they liſt) all the reſt from their allegeance.

   • 1673, Andrew Marvel[l], The Rehearsall Transpros’d: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC, page 321:

     [U]nder colour of ſome particular Author that does not pleaſe you, you run dovvn and baffle that ſerious buſineſs of Regeneration, Juſtification, Sanctification, Election, Vocation, Adoption, vvhich the Apoſtle Paul hath, beſide others, vvith ſo much labour illuſtrated and diſtinguiſh'd; […]

   • 1692 November (first performance), Thomas Shadwell, The Volunteers: or The Stock-jobbers. A Comedy, […], London: […] James Knapton, […], published 1693, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 40:

     I muſt reſolve to fight this confounded Beau, vvill tell all the Tovvn, vvhat Men he baffles, as vvell as vvhat VVomen he lies vvith.

baffle (countable and uncountable, plural baffles)

1. (obsolete, uncountable) Intentional insult; affront; also, disgrace; (countable) an instance of this.
   • 1634 August 13 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “XIV. To My Cousin Mr. J. P. at Gravesend.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, →OCLC, section VI, page 311:

     Novv that you intend to trail a Pike, and make Profeſſion of Arms, let me give you this Caveat, that nothing muſt be more precious to you than your Reputation. […] If you get but once handſomely off, you are made ever after; for you vvill be free from all Baffles and Affronts.

•   sound baffle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
•   baffle (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “baffle”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Borrowed from English baffle.

• IPA^(key): /bafl/

• Audio:

  (file)

baffle m or f (plural baffles)

1. speaker (audio)

   Synonym: haut-parleur