perplexed

[per-plekst]

adjective

1. bewildered; puzzled.

   a perplexed state of mind.

2. complicated; involved; entangled.

Other Word Forms

• perplexedly adverb
• perplexedness noun
• self-perplexed adjective
• unperplexed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of perplexed¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English perplex “confused,” from Latin perplexus ( per-, complex ) + -ed ²

Example Sentences

When Anna was planning her first visit to Xinjiang in 2015, her friends were perplexed.

Read more on BBC

He stumbled for a moment, a bit perplexed, before turning to his friends for help.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"We're always kind of perplexed where our money goes," he said.

Read more on Barron's

Hence why Reneé Rapp was perplexed when, after going less than two years without releasing new solo music, people started saying she was on hiatus.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Schottenstein, an Orthodox Jew, was perplexed at the criticism that the campaign smacked of eugenics, the Nazi-embraced theory that selective reproduction can advance the human race.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bewildered 
• puzzled www.thesaurus.com
• uncertain