nonplussed

== English == === Alternative forms === non-plussed === Etymology === 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 further, no more”), from nōn (“not”) + plūs (“additionally, more; further”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The etymological sense is similar to being left speechless as a result of confusion: the nonplussed person can say or do “no more”. Adjective sense 2 (“unaffected”) is probably from a misinterpretation of the first element of the word as the prefix non- meaning “not”. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /nɒnˈplʌst/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌnɑnˈplʌst/ Rhymes: -ʌst Hyphenation: non‧plussed === Adjective === nonplussed (comparative more nonplussed, superlative most nonplussed) Unsure how to act or respond; bewildered, perplexed. [from early 17th c.] Synonyms: confounded, vexed, lost for words; see also Thesaurus:confused Antonym: (informal) plussed (chiefly US, informal, nonstandard) Unaffected, unfazed; unimpressed. [from mid 20th c.] Synonyms: blasé, jaded; see also Thesaurus:apathetic Antonym: (informal) plussed ==== Usage notes ==== Since the mid 20th century, originally in the United States, nonplussed has acquired the alternative sense of “unaffected, unfazed”. In 1999 this sense was considered a neologism, and in 2005 it was still described as “not yet accepted as standard usage” by the Compact Oxford English Dictionary. ==== Derived terms ==== nonplussedness (rare) ==== Translations ==== === Verb === nonplussed simple past and past participle of nonplus === References === === Further reading === Mark Liberman (6 August 2008), “Nonplussed about Nonplussed”, in Language Log‎[5], archived from the original on 6 December 2022. “Usage Notes: What’s Going On with ‘Nonplussed’?”, in Merriam-Webster Online‎[6], 12 March 2023 (last accessed), archived from the original on 1 March 2023.