nonplus

From Latin nōn plūs (“no more, no further”).

• IPA^(key): /nɒnˈplʌs/

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• Rhymes: -ʌs

nonplus (plural nonpluses)

1. A state of perplexity or bewilderment.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 46, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     altering Vaudemont, to Vallemontanus, and metamorphosing them, by suting them to the Græcian or Latin tongue, we know not what to make of them, and are often at a non-plus.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:

     Both of them are a perfect non-plus and baffle to all human understanding.

   • 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview 2001, p. 81:

     ‘I believe they'd soon be put to a non-plus — You'd be quite too much for them, I'm sure.’

nonplus (third-person singular simple present nonplusses or nonpluses, present participle nonplussing or nonplusing, simple past and past participle nonplussed or nonplused)

1. (transitive) to perplex or bewilder someone; to confound or flummox.
   • 1934, P.G. Wodehouse, chapter II, in Right Ho, Jeeves‎:

     “You couldn’t have told it from my manner, but I was feeling more than a bit nonplussed. The spectacle before me was enough to nonplus anyone.”

• nonplussed