flustered

1 of 2

adjective

flus·​tered ˈflə-stərd 

: in a state of agitated confusion

She became so flustered that she'd … kept repeating, "Gosh, I can't even think …" Later she confided, "I was almost in tears right after doing those numbers."

—Stephen S. Hall

The flustered lady gave me a blank stare and said, "That's not Mr. Franklin. The guard said Mr. Franklin was on his way up."

—Dick Francis

… the oxen … seemed more patient and less flustered than their masters …

—Deborah Straw

flusteredly adverb

"Everything's under control, I think!" she says a little flusteredly. "We had a problem with the table posies, but fingers crossed, they should be on their way … ."

—Sophie Kinsella

flustered

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of fluster entry 1

Examples of flustered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Wickline came on as an increasingly flustered Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, who’s explaining why AI is dangerous without taking any responsibility for that. — Rima Parikh, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2026

But Clemson reeled the Tar Heels back in, slowing down a rushing attack led by Benjamin Hall (130 rushing yards) and making quarterback Billy Edwards, by the end, look flustered and out of sorts. — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 20 Sep. 2026

But one game in, Hoover looked fantastic for IU, and Craig looked flustered for TCU against North Carolina in Ireland. — The Athletic College Football Staff, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Within these confines the main characters register as aliens; Wendy and Jack aren’t just flustered but people who seem to have never been inculcated with a rudimentary sense of social propriety. — Vadim Rizov, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

see fluster entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1743, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flustered

• blustered
• bustard
• clustered
• custard
• mustard
• mustered