baffle
n.a person who is very difficult to understand or deal with. You use this word when someone's behavior or personality is confusing and hard to figure out.
n.a person whose character or behavior is difficult to understand or predict. Primarily used in British English; informal and dialectal in register.
“He is a real baffle to everyone who works with him.”
“The new manager is a complete baffle, changing his mind about the project every other day.”
“While his technical skills are undeniable, his erratic social behavior makes him a baffle to his colleagues, who struggle to reconcile his professional competence with his personal aloofness.”
“They attempted to redefine how a football club is run: buying young, handing out unusually long contracts, in a model that has fascinated and baffled many in football.”
“Lee's comments Tuesday come as many South Koreans remain baffled and concerned about U.S.”
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly: * from French bafouer, baffoüer (“to abuse, revile; to confuse, baffle; to deceive; to flout; to scorn”), imitative of someone making a disdainful sound by expelling air quickly through pouted lips (compare Occitan baf (interjection expressing disdain)); or * from French befer, beffer, beffler (“(obsolete) to deceive; to mock, ridicule”) (compare Old French befe, beffe, buffe (“deception; mockery”); beferie (“deceit; quibbling”)), possibly from bafouer: see above. The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Italian beffare (“(verb) to deride, mock”), beffa (“(noun) banter; mockery”) * Occitan bafar (“(verb) to deride, mock”), bafa (“(noun) banter; mockery”) * Old Spanish bafa (modern Spanish befa (“(noun) banter; mockery”)) * Spanish befar (“(verb) to deride, mock”)
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly from Scots bauchle (“to annoy; to cause harm or trouble to; to disgrace; to jilt; to treat with contempt”), from bauchle (“useless or worn-out person or thing; clumsy work, bungle; clumsy or untidy person; contemptible person; laughing stock”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to bauch (“feeble, sorry; backward, foolish”, adjective), possibly related to Old Norse bagr (“awkward, clumsy”), bāgr (“hard up, poor; uneasy”) The noun is derived from the verb.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.