Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become nervous or upset.
- noun A state of agitation, confusion, or excitement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To confuse; embarrass, as by a surprise; cause to flush and move or speak hurriedly and confusedly; flurry.
- To confuse with drink; make hot and rosy with drinking; fuddle.
- Synonyms To excite, disconcert, disturb, perturb, flurry, worry.
- To become confused, as with drink; be fuddled; be flurried.
- noun Confusion or embarrassment caused by surprise; mental confusion and excitement or perturbation; flurry.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To be in a heat or bustle; to be agitated and confused.
- transitive verb To make hot and rosy, as with drinking; to heat; hence, to throw into agitation and confusion; to confuse; to muddle.
- noun Heat or glow, as from drinking; agitation mingled with confusion; disorder.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
confuse ,befuddle , throw intopanic by makingoverwrought withconfusion .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cause to be nervous or upset
- noun a disposition that is confused or nervous and upset
- verb be flustered; behave in a confused manner
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Perhaps Mr. Batty was a person of notable industry -- perhaps remarkable for always beings in a "fluster" -- perhaps the rural Paul Pry of his day and district.
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But th 'owd lad wur i' sich a fluster, that istid o 'stoppin' it, he swapped th 'barrel to another tune.
Th' Barrel Organ Edwin Waugh 1853
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Entitled Nothing On, it is filled with fluster, sardines, slamming doors, illicit nookie and fake sheikhs.
Noises Off - review 2011
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Determined to fluster New England's Tom Brady, the Jets flooded the field Sunday night with as many as seven defensive backs at times in an effort to clog potential passing lanes and narrow the quarterback's throwing windows.
And Now for Something Completely Different... Chris Herring 2011
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In vain did yo yo threaten and bluster, the man from Texas, yo never did fluster.
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Mr. Cowley was all grin and fluster as he approached her.
On The Sly Ron Earl Phillips 2011
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Wallace did his part to fluster No. 1 overall pick John Wall, who committed a preseason-high six turnovers, partly because he wasn't used to playing against a big man who came up looking to bat away his passes in pick-and-roll situations.
Ben Wallace teaches lessons, Trevor Booker does Wallace impression Michael Lee 2010
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She endures for reasons beyond the fame and talent of her chroniclers, however; the issues that she raised continue to fluster and fascinate.
Still Under Cleopatra's Spell Stacy Schiff 2010
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This will fluster Manning and could force him into ill-advised passes that lead to interceptions.
Redskins-Colts keys to victory: defense Lavar Arrington 2010
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As the questioning continued, though, the hitherto unguarded Ms. Zuckerberg began to fluster.
Networking Offline Lizzie Simon 2011
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