Synonyms

perplexing

American

[per-plek-sing] / pərˈplɛk sɪŋ /

adjective

puzzling or bewildering; hard to understand, figure out, or solve.

One of the most perplexing aspects of owning a cat is trying to decipher its various body movements and meows.
The history of the universe is one of the most perplexing subjects of all time.

Other Word Forms

perplexingly adverb
unperplexing adjective

Etymology

Origin of perplexing

perplex ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now, facing irrelevance and the perplexing 1960s, she falters.

From The Wall Street Journal

The study also found a perplexing rise in unexplained illnesses.

From The Wall Street Journal

In 120 paintings, drawings, photographs and especially sculptures, this Therrien exhibition offers objects hovering somewhere between immediately recognizable and perplexingly alien, wryly funny and spiritually profound.

From Los Angeles Times

It has been a perplexing and dramatic downturn in form - if not fortune.

From BBC

It’s both perplexing and extremely telling that “Hamnet” doesn’t let the viewer see the world through Hamnet’s eyes until the boy is near death, cast into a world between ours and the next one.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023