Synonyms for perplexing
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Puzzling
puzzling, confusing, baffling, bewildering, mystifying, difficult, enigmatic, embarrassing, knotty, hard, incomprehensible, quisquous rare UK
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
That causes perplexity.
She found the instructions perplexing.
Example sentences
- confusing David is confusing Amanda's dad with someone else.
- puzzling Korean is a puzzling language to learn, isn't it?
- baffling Do you remember that baffling murder case?
- bewildering Tom found the sheer size of the city bewildering at first.
- bothersome Why are misogynists such bothersome creatures?
- equivocal Research in this area is somewhat equivocal.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| perplexing | steady | |
| confusing | rising | |
| puzzling | steady | |
| baffling | steady | |
| bewildering | steady | |
| bothersome | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hard1
- 6 letters
- knotty2
- 8 letters
- puzzling3, baffling3
- 9 letters
- difficult3, confusing3, enigmatic4, equivocal4, quisquous
- 10 letters
- bothersome3, mystifying4
- 11 letters
- bewildering4
- 12 letters
- embarrassing4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (knotty2 = 2 syllables).