Stephen Crane
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Disconcerted by discomfit and discomfort? While the two look similar and share some semantic territory, they’re etymologically unrelated. Unlike discomfort, discomfit has no connection to comfort, which comes ultimately from the Latin adjective fortis, meaning “strong.” Instead, discomfit was borrowed from Anglo-French in the 13th century with the meaning “to defeat in battle.” Within a couple centuries, discomfit had expanded beyond the battlefield to mean “to thwart,” a meaning that eventually softened into the now-common “to disconcert or confuse” use—one quite close to the uneasiness and annoyance communicated by discomfort. For a time, usage commentators were keen to keep a greater distance between discomfit and discomfort; they recommended that discomfit be limited to its original “to defeat” meaning, but they’ve largely given up now, and the “disconcert or confuse” meaning is fully established. There is one major difference between discomfit and discomfort, though: discomfit is used almost exclusively as a verb, while discomfort is much more commonly used as a noun than a verb.
Synonyms
Examples of discomfit in a Sentence
Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024
This new perspective has been a discomfiting change to many.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 11 Nov. 2024
Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for discomfit 
Dictionary Entries Near discomfit
Cite this Entry
“Discomfit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discomfit. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.
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