baffling

adjective

baf·​fling ˈba-f(ə-)liŋ 

: extremely confusing or difficult to understand

a baffling decision

found the directions utterly baffling

bafflingly adverb

a bafflingly complex explanation

Examples of baffling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lee kept at him, and along the way, began to find Lifeson’s interview comments increasingly baffling. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2026

Webb found her response baffling, as word of the attack had spread rapidly among staff and the footage was stored on the facility’s own security system. — Paige Pfleger, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026

The writing — and its sometimes baffling aversion to the source material — is at the heart of the problem, but there’s plenty of blame to go around, from hammy acting to a cartoonish tone that smothers the whole affair. — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 11 Aug. 2026

What’s particularly baffling was how relatively little content came out of the trip, according to The Verge, with almost none of it actually about OpenAI’s chief product, ChatGPT. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1783, in the meaning defined above