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dérouter

to disorient, to baffle

verb deh-roo-TEH Rare

Also means

to divert (a route)

Usage Note

Dérouter has two senses: literally, to divert a ship or aircraft from its route (dérouter un avion), and figuratively, to confuse or throw someone off (cette réponse m'a dérouté). The figurative sense is more common in everyday speech. The adjective déroutant(e) ('baffling, disconcerting') is widely used.

Examples

"Sa question m'a complètement dérouté."

Natural Translation

His question completely baffled me.

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