at a loss

1. 1.

   filled with bewilderment

   “at a loss to understand those remarks”

   “puzzled that she left without saying goodbye”

   Synonymsnonplusednonplussedpuzzled

   Similarperplexed

1. 1.

   below cost

   “sold the car at a loss”

Questions about at a loss

What does at a loss mean?

at a loss means "filled with bewilderment". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for at a loss?

Close synonyms include nonplused, nonplussed, puzzled. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is at a loss a common word?

at a loss is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.