Different Ways To Say You’re Speechless

Tongue-Tied

Remember when you met your girlfriend/boyfriend’s parents for the first time? Yeah, it’s like that. Tongue-tied means “Unable to speak, as from shyness, embarrassment, or surprise.” If you find yourself tongue-tied, you often end up suffering from a parallel condition known as flop sweat.

Speechless

You are totally thunderstruck. (That is a good word to use, too!) If you are rendered speechless, you’re “temporarily deprived of speech by strong emotion, physical weakness,exhaustion, etc.: speechless with alarm.” Another good word in this case comes from the UK: gobsmacked!

Nonplussed

The word nonplussed is a term you don’t hear a lot, but it’s out there. When nonplussed is used as a noun, this means “a state of utter perplexity.”

Flummoxed

Flummoxed means “bewildered, confounded, and confused.” This is not often used in a sentence these days. A current usage might be, “He was really flummoxed when the boss called on him in the meeting.” Bottom line, you know it when you see it, or worse, when you feel it.

Flabbergasted

Our definition of flabbergasted states you are totally stunned. (You are) “overcome with surprise and bewilderment.” The “flabber” part sounds kind of funny on its own, but it isn’t a recognized word. And that's OK.

Dumbstruck

The word dumbstruck is merely a variant of dumbfounded. You’re “temporarily deprived of the power of speech, as if by surprise or confusion; dumbfounded.”

Dumbfounded

You are completely stuck. You got nuthin’. Dumbfounded means “To make speechless with amazement; astonish.” Example: “After listening to the President’s speech, I was totally dumbfounded.”

Disconcerted

This is sort of like being thrown off your mark. We call disconcerted “disturbed, as in one's composure or self-possession; perturbed;ruffled: She was disconcerted by the sudden attack on her integrity.” Also, “bewildered or confused, as by something unexpected: the class was disconcerted by the instructor's confusion.”

Discombobulated

You've totally fallen apart. It’s “to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate.” Example: “She became totally discombobulated when giving her presentation.”

Befuddled

If you’re befuddled, you’re just clueless. No chance of pulling out of this dive. Look in Google Images for Elmer Fudd. That’s befuddled, you wascally wabbits.