French word

déconcerter

Pronunciation

IPA/dekɔ̃sɛʁte/

Meaning

  • verbconfuse

Example

Les changements rapides ont déconcerté les élèves.

The rapid changes confused the students.

Illustration for déconcerter (confuse)

More examples

La remarque l'a déconcerté.

The remark disconcerted him.

Core concept

A person facing a sudden change loses the mental map that normally guides a response.

Common phrases

  • déconcerter quelqu'un

    to disconcert someone

  • ça peut déconcerter

    It can disconcert

Similar words

perturber: Disturb someone's usual mental state or course of thought, causing confusion.
désorienter: Cause someone to lose their bearings or judgment and become lost.
surprendre: Catch someone off guard with something they did not expect.
dérouter: Throw someone off by disrupting expectations and obscuring the way forward.

Definition in French

Mettre quelqu'un dans l'embarras ou l'incertitude, de sorte qu'il hésite ou perde ses repères.

Word origin

Déconcerter combines dé- with concerter, whose sense involved arranging or bringing things into concert, so it suggested undoing an arrangement and unsettling judgment.

Usage tips

  • The usual construction is déconcerter quelqu'un, with the person as a direct object rather than an object introduced by à.

Other meanings

  • disconcertverb

Opposites

Related words

  • déconcertantdisconcertingadjective
  • déconcertédisconcertedadjective

Word lists with this word