Nonplussed

adjective/ˌnɑnˈplʌst/emotion

Definition

Surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react.

Etymology

An 1899 political cartoon entitled “Non-plussed” by Joseph Morewood Staniforth. It depicts the British Member of Parliament Joseph Chamberlain as a nonplussed (adjective sense 1) inventor fretting over an “old age pension machine”, alluding to the difficulties Chamberlain encountered in getting support for his old age pension programme. From nonplus (“state of bewilderment or perplexity”, noun) or nonplus (“to bewilder or perplex (someone)”, verb) +‎ -ed (suffix forming adjectives, and the past tense and past participle forms of verbs). Nonplus (noun) is derived from Latin nōn plūs (“no furthe

Synonyms

confounded, vexed, lost for words

In a sentence

She was nonplussed by the interviewer's hostile tone.