perplexing

[per-plek-sing]

adjective

1. puzzling or bewildering; hard to understand, figure out, or solve.

   One of the most perplexing aspects of owning a cat is trying to decipher its various body movements and meows.

   The history of the universe is one of the most perplexing subjects of all time.

Other Word Forms

• perplexingly adverb
• unperplexing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of perplexing¹

perplex ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Though retired, Graham is drawn back in by a perplexing new case.

From Los Angeles Times

The agencies, he said, gave him the runaround and he couldn’t get anyone to answer his calls — which he said was perplexing, considering the rapid response when he alerted them to infected cattle.

From Los Angeles Times

Officers are also aware that the plane has been taken multiple times, and returned, making the incidents more perplexing.

From Los Angeles Times

A US president finally moving away from his perplexing faith in Vladimir Putin, while still giving the Russian leader time to come to the negotiating table.

From BBC

Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has studied the Fema flood maps, said she found it "perplexing" that the riverside camp had been granted exemptions from the maps.

From BBC

Related Words

• baffling 
• complicated 
• confusing 
• convoluted 
• disconcerting 
• knotty 
• mysterious 
• mystifying www.thesaurus.com
• puzzling 
• thorny 
• worrying www.thesaurus.com