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
as in perplexing
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Dissimilar Words
as in thwarting
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of baffling
Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Not helping matters is the story’s baffling (sometimes, annoying) sense of humor, actively working against the big, bold, beautiful life lessons the movie desperately attempts to prescribe.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025
Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
In the last few years, researchers have stumbled upon baffling signals from deep space, uncovered strange features hiding beneath our oceans, and found clues that hint at life’s secrets on other worlds.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baffling
Verb
Their paradise home transformed into a fortress surrounded by armed guards, but one of them still ended up murdered by gunshot, leading to a baffling mystery.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025
Not helping matters is the story’s baffling (sometimes, annoying) sense of humor, actively working against the big, bold, beautiful life lessons the movie desperately attempts to prescribe.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
This is stuttering, crashing and other issues, even on high-end hardware way above recommended specs, which is baffling some.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
In the last few years, researchers have stumbled upon baffling signals from deep space, uncovered strange features hiding beneath our oceans, and found clues that hint at life’s secrets on other worlds.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for baffling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baffling
Verb
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The observations detected a puzzling event as the planet transitioned from a steady accretion rate in April and May to a burst of growth between June and August.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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These include one in which Arthur sports a full beard, a puzzling image given that Arthur has only a mustache.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Every trade deadline is a perplexing adventure.—
Levi Weaver,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
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The phenomenon is called seasonal asynchrony, and a new study finds these perplexing locations appear in tropical mountains of countries like Costa Rica as well as places like California that have Mediterranean climates.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Higher tariff costs are hampering Nike's efforts to turn around its business.—
Gabrielle Fonrouge,
CNBC,
30 Sep. 2025
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The rains brought the state capital to a standstill, seriously hampering preparations for the upcoming Durga Puja — the biggest annual festival of Hindus in West Bengal state.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And aren’t our real-life romantic complications bewildering enough?—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
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Its ginormous investments in higher-value, tech-heavy sectors from smartphones to autos to semiconductors to biotechnology are disrupting the global landscape at bewildering speed.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Most intriguing is how these groups will be submitted among the rock, metal and alternative categories, distinctions that only get more confusing as time marches on.—
Alan Light,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Oct. 2025
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Annie and Nick Annie and Nick's path to getting engaged was winding and confusing.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Despite the growing frustration surrounding the play, Payton remains steadfast in his belief that the play should not be outlawed.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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New York — An explosion at a New York City apartment building blew off a floor-to-roof chunk of the high-rise – terrifying residents in the Bronx and fueling frustration and outrage as to how this could have happened.—
Holly Yan,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Lightweight, portable, and convincing, the company’s models offer both deception and deterrence at relatively low cost.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Oct. 2025
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The concept is raising concerns that the bloc is still too slow in improving its deterrence options, however.—
Silvia Amaro,
CNBC,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Baffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baffling. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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