as in perplexing
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as in thwarting
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Dissimilar Words
1
as in frustrating
to prevent from achieving a goal
the language barrier baffled everyone and discouraged us from attempting another teleconference
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in puzzling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
she was baffled by the wording of the clause in the insurance policy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of baffling
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
Patients taken to court described baffling bills, confusing health plan rules, and frustrating and fruitless telephone calls to hospital billing offices and health insurers’ customer-service lines.
—
Katy Golvala,
Hartford Courant,
1 June 2026
ArsTechnica,
25 May 2026
That said, the good outweighs the baffling.
—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
This inversion explains a host of baffling political and cultural phenomena of late.
—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for baffling
Adjective
Gritty Nobody ever said Pennsylvania was short on personality—and hometown pride takes a baffling but beloved form in Gritty, the Philly Flyers mascot.
—
Arati Menon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 June 2026
Patients taken to court described baffling bills, confusing health plan rules, and frustrating and fruitless telephone calls to hospital billing offices and health insurers’ customer-service lines.
—
Katy Golvala,
Hartford Courant,
1 June 2026
Noun
Those who knew me found this baffling.
—
ArsTechnica,
25 May 2026
That said, the good outweighs the baffling.
—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
As the castle’s internal order collapses under the weight of a string of baffling crimes, Araki strikes a fragile alliance with Kuroda Kanbei – a razor-minded captive languishing in his own dungeon – in a race to root out a traitor before Oda’s army closes in.
—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
This inversion explains a host of baffling political and cultural phenomena of late.
—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for baffling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baffling
Adjective
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The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing mysteries.
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The charming little burg is plagued by a perplexing dead body problem.
Noun
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The attack’s thwarting was an undeniable success.
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The thwarting of the Charlotte Hornets, one of the NBA’s fastest squads, is the quintessential White play.
Verb
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The documentary’s contradiction is right there, enthralling us with the wild achievements Potter pulled off and frustrating us with his bombast, leading us to ponder whether, as The Dark Wizard suggests, either could exist without the other.
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Mack and the Chargers’ defense pressured quarterbacks Jalen Hurts of the Eagles and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, frustrating them and keeping them out of their comfort zones.
Verb
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The 24 hours between Sunday and Monday made an already puzzling situation even more head spinning.
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Police are investigating after puzzling footage posted online shows a group of men emerging from a manhole in Brooklyn early Friday morning.
Adjective
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Those themes are compelling on paper, but they’re expressed through a confusing mix of abstraction and hyper-local specificity, hidden beneath biker rock riffs, and obscured through Allbrook’s wiry, wailing vocal delivery.
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Project proposals said the lanes are underutilized and confusing to drivers.
Noun
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Those frustrations could be on the verge of boiling over.
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But without knowing the reasons behind those decisions, the criticism amounts to nothing more than frustrations over unmet expectations.
Verb
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The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.
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Winds of up to 50 mph stoked the flames and severely limited the fire response by hampering boat and aircraft access to the remote island.
Verb
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Similarly, the defensively bewildering 9-6 loss the Wild suffered to start Round 2 in Colorado set the tone for five games that would ultimately be their undoing.
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But even more than engaging the big ideas that Emma’s revelation triggers — pun somewhat intended — Lee and Borli wanted to craft an experience that would mimic its main characters’ bewildering interiority.
Cite this Entry
“Baffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baffling. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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