1
as in inexplicable
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2
as in perplexing
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Dissimilar Words
as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
it is the cause of the disease that puzzles doctors
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of puzzling
Sean Conlon,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026
Jokic admitted last Sunday that he was concerned by the increasingly puzzling trend.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 25 Feb. 2026
Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 6 Mar. 2026
This puzzling behavior has long raised questions about how materials without a regular molecular structure can still remain mechanically stable.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Adjective
While stock markets have shifted firmly into risk-off mode, the bond market has had a puzzling reaction to some.
—Sean Conlon,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Mar. 2026
Jokic admitted last Sunday that he was concerned by the increasingly puzzling trend.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 25 Feb. 2026
Verb
The instinct to head back to a war zone may seem puzzling, but the reality on the ground generally isn’t as dire as the headlines suggest.
—Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 6 Mar. 2026
This puzzling behavior has long raised questions about how materials without a regular molecular structure can still remain mechanically stable.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puzzling
Adjective
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An ominous, inexplicable sound that floods dread into your every waking step, and that will eventually drive you to suicide or murder?—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
25 Mar. 2026
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Even less weighty decisions were sometimes inexplicable to him.—
Eric Boodman,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The judging is vexing and perplexing.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
28 Mar. 2026
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Radziwill’s absence has been somewhat perplexing.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The steel pipe's unexpected growth spurt was reported to police early Wednesday by a pedestrian who saw broken pieces of asphalt falling from the cylinder, baffling people passing by and causing traffic congestion.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
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Though still fuming from his team’s baffling loss to the Bulls – the Warriors squandered an eight-point lead with 91 seconds remaining – Kerr found his composure long enough to crack a joke.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Many joked that the clip explained years of mysterious toy discoveries beneath their own furniture.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
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Unfortunately, Grace can’t see into the mysterious, opaque little organisms until a dead one becomes translucent.—
Deana L. Weibel,
The Conversation,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2026
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The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
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McNutt housed some 700 kids — about one-third of the population of French Lick — and Bird found the campus outside the dormitory walls bewildering.—
Keith O'Brien,
Rolling Stone,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Chloe’s arrival felt almost incomprehensible to a couple who once believed parenthood was out of reach.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Mar. 2026
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The permanent layoff of approximately 300 workers at the Searles Valley Minerals Trona plant will have an incomprehensible impact on our High Desert communities.—
Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh,
Oc Register,
21 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The goggles, the GPS address and the laptop — all of it was strong evidence supporting the bizarre story Denise and Aaron had been telling all along.—
Lauren Clark,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
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His YouTube page, once an online venue for his songs, was more recently dedicated to paranoid rants about his family members, some centering on his relationship with his grandfather, and others where Valdez displayed bizarre behavior like imitating Nazi soldiers.—
Nate Gartrell,
Mercury News,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Puzzling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puzzling. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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