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discomfit

verb
/dɪsˈkʌmfɪt/

Etymology

From Middle English discomfiten, from Old French desconfit, past participle of desconfire (“to undo, to destroy”), from des- (“completely”), from Latin dis- + Old French confire (“to make”), from Latin cōnficiō (“to finish up, to destroy”), from com- (“with, together”) + faciō (“to do, to make”). Later sense of “to embarrass, to disconcert” due to confusion with unrelated discomfort.

  1. derived from cōnficiō — “to finish up, to destroy”
  2. derived from confire — “to make”
  3. derived from dis-
  4. derived from desconfit
  5. inherited from discomfiten

Definitions

  1. To embarrass (someone) greatly

    To embarrass (someone) greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert.

    • Don't worry. Your joke did not really discomfit me.
    • She is a pretty, silly girl: but are you apprehensive that her titter will discomfit the old lady?

  2. To defeat the plans or hopes of

    To defeat the plans or hopes of; to frustrate; disconcert.

    • In these disguises, Maitland argued, he would certainly avoid recognition, and so discomfit any mischief planned by the enemies of Margaret.

  3. To defeat completely

    To defeat completely; to rout.

    • And Joſhua diſcomfited Amalek, and his people, with the edge of the ſword.
    • And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field.

The neighborhood

Derived

undiscomfited

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for discomfit. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA