Kana: とうわく
Kanji: 当惑
Romaji: touwaku

Type: Noun, するverb
Meaning: bewilderment, perplexity, embarrassment, confusion
JLPT level: N1

Example sentences:

この非難には当惑するばかりです。
I don’t understand why I’m being condemned.
Kono hinan ni wa touwaku suru bakari desu.

わたしはまんまとその当惑にはまってしまった。
I was totally at loss.
Watashi wa manmato sono touwaku ni hamatte shimatta.

その男の目を見た瞬間、激しい当惑を覚えてしまった。
The moment I saw the man’s eyes, I felt a great sense of bewilderment.
Sono otoko no me o mita shunkan, hageshii touwaku o oboete shimatta.

みなさんを当惑させるつもりはないんだが、カードはすべてテーブルに並べてみせたいんだ。
I don’t want to embarrass anyone, but I do want all the cards on the table.
Minasan o touwaku saseru tsumori wa nain da ga, kaado wa subete teeburu ni narabete misetain da.

タクシーで突然騒ぎだした彼女にはじめのうちわたしは当惑するばかりだった。
takushii de totsuzen sawagidashita kanojo ni hajime no uchi watashi wa touwaku suru bakari datta.
At first, I had been mystified by her abrupt antics in the taxi.

１９６０年代までにはスターリンの自国民と東欧諸国民への犯罪が明るみに出た。欧米と発展途上国の聡明で理想主義的な左翼の若者たちにとっては、スターリンは当惑の種、ただの残忍な権力を代表する、触れるのは避けたい存在へと転落した。
sen kyuuhyaku rokujuu nendai made ni wa sutaarin no jikokumin to touou shokokumin e no hanzai ga akarumi ni deta. oubei to hatten tojoukoku no soumei de risou shugiteki na sayoku no wakamonotachi ni totte wa, sutaarin wa touwaku no tane, tada no zannin na kenryoku o daihyou suru, fureru no wa saketai sonzai e to tenraku shita.
By the 1960s, Stalin, his crimes against his own people and against those in Eastern Europe now public, would seem something of an embarrassment to bright, idealistic young leftists in the West and in the underdeveloped world, a leader they preferred to avoid talking about, who represented little but brute power.

もしある女性が何の特権も要求せず、その存在や行動だけで判断してもらいたいと主張すると、それは深刻に、かつ許せないほどに彼らを当惑させる。
moshi aru josei ga nan no tokken mo youkyuu sezu, sono sonzai ya koudou dake de handan shite moraitai to shuchou suru to, sore wa shinkoku ni, katsu yurusenai hodo ni karera o touwaku saseru.
If a woman asks no special privileges and expects to be judged solely by what she is and does, this is found gravely and unforgivably disorienting.

だれもかれも、当惑しきっていた。突然、暗い影が、この陽気な、上機嫌のパーティの上に襲いかかってきたという感じだった。
daremo karemo, touwaku shikitte ita. totsuzen, kurai kage ga, kono youki na, joukigen no paati no ue ni osoikakatte kita to iu kanji datta.
Everyone was embarrassed. A sudden blight had come over the cheerful party.

Meaning in other languages:

Chinese: 困惑 (kùnhuò)
Korean: 당혹 (danghog)
In French: perplexité
In Spanish: desconcierto
In German: Verwirrung
In Italian: perplessità