perplex
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause to be puzzled or bewildered over what is not understood or certain; confuse mentally.
Her strange response perplexed me.
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to make complicated or confused, as a matter or question.
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to hamper with complications, confusion, or uncertainty.
verb
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to puzzle; bewilder; confuse
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to complicate
to perplex an issue
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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perplexsimple
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perplexessimple
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have perplexedperfect
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has perplexedperfect
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am perplexingprogressive
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are perplexingprogressive
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is perplexingprogressive
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have been perplexingperfect progressive
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has been perplexingperfect progressive
Past
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perplexedsimple
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had perplexedperfect
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was perplexingprogressive
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were perplexingprogressive
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had been perplexingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perplex
First recorded in 1585–95; back formation from perplexed
Explanation
To perplex someone is to amaze, baffle, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, mystify, or puzzle them. Perplexing things are hard to understand. If you're perplexed, then you're confused. Different things perplex different people. In football, a tricky defense will perplex a quarterback. Complicated formulas can perplex math students. When people do weird things, it can be perplexing. Anything hard to understand might perplex you. Perplexing also means to make something more complicated. So when you see the word perplex, think "Huh?"
Vocabulary lists containing perplex
List 1
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In a Pickle: Words for When You're in Trouble
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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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:
Joao Neves, Kvaratskhelia and Mendes ended up on the left flank in close proximity - an asymmetrical set-up intended to perplex Liverpool.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Zika, a mosquito-borne virus first identified in 1947 in a Rhesus macaque monkey, continues to perplex scientists in many ways nearly 80 years later.
From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2025
This pattern of abruptly rejecting safe foods can perplex parents and clinicians alike and, on the surface, can look like dieting.
From Slate ● Jan. 4, 2025
“Brand New Key” wasn’t the first No. 1 song to perplex listeners, and it wouldn’t be the last.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
“You puzzle me, Jane: your look and tone of sorrowful audacity perplex and pain me. I want an explanation.”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
“What perplexes me is that despite the plant being known for its stinky smell, it also produces several sweet-smelling chemicals.”
From Salon ● May 27, 2025
“It’s one of the questions that perplexes me.”
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2022
This is the category that most perplexes analysts.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2021
So, if you are a white person and someone calls you racist, and the charge perplexes you, what should you do?
From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2019
The facts as they stand are the data, the raw material of reflection; their lack of coherence perplexes and stimulates to reflection.
From How We Think by Dewey, John
The perplexed company contacted the police and investigations commenced.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
But when the high-school band director googled the man behind the $10 billion proposal—a land-use lawyer named Sebastian Rucci—he was perplexed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Impersonating a perplexed English person, the comedian says: "Let me get this straight ... you actively support the other teams because they're playing England?"
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
I have struggled with my Catholic faith over the years, but nothing has perplexed me more than the idea of suffering.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
He regarded, perplexed, the rocks encircling our dead embers.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
To think they have allowed him to enter the final year of his contract is perplexing - but that is where we are.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The weakness in the won then, has been perplexing to many forex analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 3, 2026
Those who dug into his background soon found a perplexing trail of bold statements and obfuscations.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
The mismatch between theory and observation remains one of the most perplexing problems in modern physics.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026
I’ve never experienced anything this perplexing before, and I can’t even be vulnerable with the one person who could help me navigate it?
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
