Fuddling
/ˈfʌd.lɪŋ/noun
Confusing, muddling, or making someone slightly drunk.
Did you know?The verb is tied to older English slang for getting tipsy or muddled, not to any occult ritual, but it survives with the same eerie sense of mental fog.
Etymological Timeline
16th Century
English
fudle
“To drink to excess; to make drunk or confused.”
Late 16th Century
English
fuddle
“To make or become drunk; to confuse.”
17th Century
English
befuddle
“To confuse thoroughly, as if intoxicated.”
18th-19th Century
English
fuddling
“Confusing, muddling, or drinking to excess.”
Modern English
English
fuddling
“Causing confusion or a tipsy, muddled state.”