puzzle
Americannoun
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puzzles
plural
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a toy, problem, or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort.
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something puzzling; a puzzling question, matter, or person.
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a puzzled or perplexed condition; bewilderment.
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Did you do the puzzle in the newspaper today?
verb (used with object)
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puzzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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puzzled,
past participle, past
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puzzling
present participle
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to put (someone) at a loss; mystify; confuse; baffle.
Her attitude puzzles me.
- Synonyms:
- confound
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to frustrate or confound, as the understanding; perplex.
The problem puzzled him for weeks.
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to exercise (oneself, one's brain, etc.) over some problem or matter.
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Archaic. to make intricate or complicated.
verb (used without object)
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puzzles,
present (3rd person singular)
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puzzled,
past participle, past
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puzzling
present participle
-
to be perplexed or confused.
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to ponder or study over some perplexing problem or matter.
verb phrase
verb
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to perplex or be perplexed
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to attempt the solution (of); ponder (about)
he puzzled over her absence
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to solve by mental effort
he puzzled out the meaning of the inscription
noun
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a person or thing that puzzles
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a problem that cannot be easily or readily solved
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the state or condition of being puzzled
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a toy, game, or question presenting a problem that requires skill or ingenuity for its solution See jigsaw puzzle Chinese puzzle
Synonym Usage
Puzzle, riddle, enigma refer to something baffling or confusing that is to be solved. A puzzle is a question or problem, intricate enough to be perplexing to the mind; it is sometimes a contrivance made purposely perplexing to test one's ingenuity: a crossword puzzle; The reason for their behavior remains a puzzle. A riddle is an intentionally obscure statement or question, the meaning of or answer to which is to be arrived at only by guessing: the famous riddle of the Sphinx. Enigma, originally meaning riddle, now refers to some baffling problem with connotations of mysteriousness: He will always be an enigma to me.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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puzzlesimple
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puzzlessimple
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have puzzledperfect
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has puzzledperfect
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am puzzlingprogressive
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are puzzlingprogressive
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is puzzlingprogressive
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have been puzzlingperfect progressive
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has been puzzlingperfect progressive
Past
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puzzledsimple
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had puzzledperfect
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was puzzlingprogressive
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were puzzlingprogressive
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had been puzzlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of puzzle
First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain
Explanation
To puzzle over something is to try to understand or solve it. Picture someone struggling with a jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out how all those tiny pieces fit together to form an image. That person is puzzling over a puzzle! When something puzzles you, it confuses and mystifies you. New technology might continually puzzle your grandfather, while your grandmother is quick to figure it out. When you puzzle over a difficult book or the instructions to your new TV, it's like you're trying to piece together a tricky puzzle — a challenging game or problem. The classic puzzle is a jigsaw puzzle, a picture that's split into small, oddly-shaped pieces you need to reassemble into a whole. There are also logic puzzles, crossword puzzles, and mechanical puzzles like a Rubik's Cube. If you can't figure a person out, you can also call them a puzzle.
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.
See Examples For:
The investigation grew out of a longstanding puzzle in cancer research known as the "obesity paradox."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
But Braun was running a different type of program, with a very particular puzzle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Wall Street isn’t alone in wrestling with a puzzle.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Solve these clues and more in today’s puzzle.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
Maybe it’s a small thing, sewing a hem, helping someone with a crossword puzzle.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Hawkins-Field said her mum likes the "little things in life", but "loves doing jigsaw puzzles, big, really, really difficult, intricate jigsaw puzzles" and reading.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Kyra said her mum likes the "little things in life" and "loves doing jigsaw puzzles"
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
The “American Idol” alum took to social media on Saturday to call out Art of Play, a high-end “curiosity shop” that sells puzzles, games and other whimsical goods, for her negative experience during a visit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
One of the major puzzles in fundamental physics involves the enormous difference between the scale of the universe we experience and the Planck scale, the fundamental energy scale associated with quantum gravity.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Zero is behind all of the big puzzles in physics.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
And then there was the rest of the internet which was simply puzzled.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Viewers who have just spent four hours being told that Mr. Musk is a freak, fraud and failure will be puzzled at the suggestion that he is nevertheless all-powerful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Not long ago, ordering a nonalcoholic beer at Oktoberfest could draw puzzled looks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
These kidney lipid droplets have puzzled scientists for more than a century.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
I have puzzled out what the stars mean that you put in the margins of each letter.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
One problem scientists and Wall Street are puzzling over is that a different study showed using Keytruda alone before surgery appeared to produce a similar result to the vaccine in certain melanoma patients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Bennu's boulder-covered surface appeared to contradict those earlier measurements, leaving researchers with a puzzling question: How could an asteroid covered in massive rocks cool so quickly?
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
It is puzzling to me why Maupassant’s elder and mentor, Gustave Flaubert, is the object of so much cultish admiration while the protégé is comparatively neglected.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The finding provides a potential explanation for an otherwise puzzling observation.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
It may have been puzzling to me, but it only took Mom about a second to make up her mind.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
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