noun
Etymology
Origin of puzzler
Explanation
A puzzler is a confusing or tricky problem. The mystery of why you always lose your car keys can be described as a puzzler. You might be sure you'll ace your math test until you get to the final question, a complete puzzler that you can't figure out how to solve. Other kinds of puzzlers could be the complicated plot of a novel you're reading or what the secret ingredient is in your dad's brownie recipe. The noun puzzler has been around since the mid-1600s, from puzzle, "bewilder or confound."
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.
This mix of promise and threat is a puzzler.
From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2026
As well as the solo competition, the event included a pairs race, which was won by champion puzzler Sarah Mills and partner Claire Heyes, from Norwich, in 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025
The collapse of eighth-grade reading scores was a puzzler for L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2025
Those compounds didn't react at all, a puzzler the researchers are still trying to understand.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 12, 2024
And about the nick they’d made in Connor’s puzzler.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
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.
