noun
Etymology
Origin of puzzlement
Explanation
When you're feeling confused, you're experiencing puzzlement. Many people have a sense of puzzlement during their first day at a brand new job, while they are trying to figure out how to please the boss and work the coffee machine. A state of puzzlement is familiar to anyone who's ever been literally lost (on the streets of an unfamiliar city), or figuratively lost (sitting in the wrong math class). If you're puzzled, baffled, confused, or befuddled — that's puzzlement. There's some puzzlement among word experts about where exactly this word comes from. They know puzzle came first, from the earlier pusle, "bewilder," but beyond that its origin is a puzzle.
Vocabulary lists containing puzzlement
Shiloh
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"The Open Window" and "One in a Million"
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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.
Experts familiar with Morocco's security apparatus expressed puzzlement at the absence of reinforcements from the police or the powerful military, even as migrants began pouring into Fnideq at the start of the week.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
When white smoke rose over the Sistine Chapel last May and Leo’s election was announced to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, many people’s reaction was puzzlement as they quickly googled him on their smartphones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
It’s time to turn your puzzlement and distress into legal action.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 11, 2026
When it comes to the outcome of the four-hour Israeli security cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Israeli journalists admitted puzzlement over contradictory and confusing briefings.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2025
Behind her, Alys, her face folded into puzzlement and concern, began to replace her birthing tools into the woven bag.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
