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

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

Legions of fans were furious, blasting the ending as perplexing and open-ended.

From Los Angeles Times

Several researchers also said that they found Kennedy’s insistence that autism stems from exposure to an undetermined environmental source perplexing.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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