puzzling

[puhz-ling]

adjective

1. confusing or baffling.

   a puzzling answer.

noun

1. the skill or pastime of constructing or working crossword or other puzzles.

Other Word Forms

• puzzlingly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of puzzling¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; puzzle + -ing ²

Example Sentences

The fact that Ammonite has a completely different orbit from the other sednoids has left astronomers puzzling over the diversity and strangeness of the outer Solar System.

Read more on Space Scoop

Once a viewer is indoctrinated, however, they may find it difficult to refrain from puzzling over its message.

Read more on Salon

It’s a puzzling and irritating gesture that in context sounds like a mistake.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We can therefore explain why some viscous magmas flow out gently instead of exploding, despite their high gas content -- a riddle that's been puzzling us for a long time," says Bachmann.

Read more on Science Daily

Wittgenstein demanded that whenever we find ourselves puzzling over the meaning of such terms, we should ask, “is the word ever actually used in this way in the language in which it is at home?”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• ambiguous 
• baffling 
• bewildering 
• difficult 
• incomprehensible 
• inexplicable 
• mystifying www.thesaurus.com
• obscure 
• perplexing 
• surprising 
• unclear 
• unfathomable