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abbagliare

to dazzle

verb ahb-bah-LYAH-reh Rare
Body & Health Senses

Also means

to blind temporarily

Usage Note

Abbagliare means to dazzle or temporarily blind with intense light — the root bagliore (glare) is related. It takes avere as its auxiliary (i fari mi hanno abbagliato = the headlights dazzled me). Figuratively it means to bedazzle or impress overwhelmingly (la sua bellezza abbagliava tutti). The derived noun abbaglio means 'a blunder' — prendere un abbaglio = to make a mistake, a completely separate idiomatic use.

Examples

"I fari dell'auto mi hanno abbagliato."

Natural Translation

The car's headlights dazzled me.

Literal Translation

The headlights of-the car me have dazzled.

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