perplexed
Americanadjective
-
bewildered; puzzled.
a perplexed state of mind.
-
complicated; involved; entangled.
Other Word Forms
- perplexedly adverb
- perplexedness noun
- self-perplexed adjective
- unperplexed adjective
Etymology
Origin of perplexed
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English perplex “confused,” from Latin perplexus ( per-, complex ) + -ed 2
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.
Everything went perfectly that day - except for his half-time interview, which left French broadcasters perplexed.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
The December slump has perplexed investors, given that the final month of the year is historically one of the strongest in terms of stock performance, with an average gain of around 1.4%.
From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025
There are anomalies in the labor market, which are leaving people like your son feeling perplexed.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 15, 2025
Skeptics who had been perplexed by Mr. Gehry’s squirming metallic shapes suddenly found them perfectly comprehensible.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
Yet, even as he had come to accept the existence of genes, Morgan had remained perplexed about their material form.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
