adjective
perplexing
p-PLEHK-sihng
adjective
1
Confusing; hard to make sense of.
"It's a perplexing mystery why the door was left unlocked."
"The results of the experiment were perplexing to the whole research team."
How to Use Perplexing
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishSomething so confusing it leaves you puzzled.
Common mistake
"Perplexing" describes the confusing thing itself; "perplexed" describes the confused person.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
more perplexing comparative, most perplexing superlative
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Can you complete this real example?
It's a _____ mystery why the door was left unlocked.