disorienting

/dɪˈsɔriˌɛntɪŋ/

Disorienting things make you feel confused. It's disorienting each time you step out of a subway station in a big city — it takes a minute to get your bearings and figure out which direction to walk.

Waking up from the anesthetic after having your wisdom teeth removed is very disorienting, and a disorienting first day at a new school shouldn't be surprising. The adjective disorienting comes from disorient, or "make someone lose their sense of direction," which has a French source, désorienter, "to cause to lose one's bearings," or literally, "to turn from the east."

Definitions of disorienting

1. adjective

   causing loss of physical or intellectual bearings
   “making so many turns to the right and then the left was completely disorienting”

   “a sharp blow to the head can be disorienting”

   synonyms:

   unoriented

   not having position or goal definitely set or ascertained

   confusing

   causing confusion or disorientation

   estranging

   making one feel out of place or alienated

   stunning

   causing or capable of causing bewilderment or shock or insensibility

   stupefying

   making physically stupid or dull or insensible

   antonyms:

   orienting

   positioning with respect to a reference system or determining your bearings physically or intellectually

   orientated, oriented

   adjusted or located in relation to surroundings or circumstances; sometimes used in combination

   aligning, positioning

   causing to fall into line or into position

   dimensioning

   indicating or determining size and position in space

   familiarising, familiarizing

   serving to make familiar

   homing

   orienting or directing homeward or to a destination