stymied, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

stymied adj.

[golfing imagery; SE stymie, ‘an opponent’s ball which lies on the putting green in a line between the ball of the player and the hole he is playing for, if the distance between the balls is not less than six inches’ (OED)]

(orig. US) confused, frustrated, in difficulties.

1902		Ade Girl Proposition 70: In about 8 Minutes he had the Regular Fellow stymied.
1922		Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert 4: He proposed to Adeline and was badly stymied.
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 212: Well, that being so, we do seem to be more or less stymied.
c.1939		in W.C. Fields By Himself (1974) 166: My dinner companion was ‘stymied’.
1948		C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 89: So we were stymied once again.
1956		J. Blake letter 26 March in Joint (1972) 80: It’s the first time I ever met a novelist who, when stymied, picks up his typewriter and hurls it against the wall.
1960		Wodehouse Jeeves in the Offing 8: His only trouble is that he’s stymied unless he has his speech with him.
1971		M. Novotny Kings Road 237: Helen was stymied, she panicked.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 198: ‘Looks like you’ve got us stymied,’ I conceded.
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 300: The students were awestruck. They appeared completely stymied.
1999		Guardian Guide 29 May–4 June 81: Attempts at bonding with separatists are stymied by a brick wall of polemic.
2003		J. Ellroy ‘Stephanie’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 55: The Gorman job: stymied, quicksand, sludge.