- present participle of puzzle.
puzzling
Americanadjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of puzzling
Explanation
Something that's puzzling is confusing, or hard to understand. It might seem puzzling to you that your best friend claims to hate doughnuts. People sometimes act in puzzling ways, making decisions that you can't comprehend. You might also come across particularly puzzling questions on a test or quiz — these are the hard ones, taking a long time to figure out and requiring a lot of thought. Puzzling comes from the verb puzzle, whose origin is a bit of a puzzle itself. Some experts guess that it comes from pose, formed the way nuzzle is from nose.
Vocabulary lists containing puzzling
Strange
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Strange
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Strange
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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.
The puzzling part is how strong the genetic case looks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Computer models are helping scientists explain a puzzling pattern of deformation beneath the East African Rift System.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
Kelly pulls out his phone to show me a video of a woman whose account is dedicated to sharing puzzling life advice while she appears under an extreme beauty filter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
By studying this fossil alongside other puzzling specimens from much earlier and later periods, the researchers reconstructed a critical stage in early insect evolution.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
Zeitoun pondered the many puzzling aspects to Jerry’s presence.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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.
