as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
we were mystified by the sudden changes in the tax code
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as in perplexing
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Recent Examples of mystifying
Charles Pellegrino, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The sudden explosive change of air pressure and the heating of the air itself cleared every cloud out of the sky, mystifying Baxter and everyone else who witnessed the disappearance.
—Charles Pellegrino, Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mystifying
Verb
-
That the Red Wings needed to attach a second-round pick to offload his money last summer was baffling at the time and looks even worse now.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Chronic pain — that is more perplexing, with its biological purpose, if there even is one, proving elusive.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
-
The Longs lived by a perplexing tangle of unspoken rules anchored by the admonishment to never invite the neighbors over.—
Kristen Kidd,
Denver Post,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Colorado opened its 2025 season with a puzzling 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech on Friday night.—
Shane Shoemaker,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Aug. 2025
-
Tyler, the Creator has turned 2025’s Camp Flog Gnaw announcement into a puzzling quest.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
21 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
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
Verb
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And aren’t our real-life romantic complications bewildering enough?—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
-
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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But upon Bennet’s arrival, things take a turn for the bizarre, when the wealthy tycoon builds himself a prison cell in the basement, in an apparent act of meditative penance that forces Blakey into an inversion of traditional power dynamics.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
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Tasked with bringing into reality those that are a little further down on the bizarre end of the spectrum, the show’s prosthetics and VFX teams had their work cut out for them.—
Lisa de los Reyes,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In such a large, complex, dangerous, and confusing world, can one person make a difference to anything?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Sep. 2025
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These fictional AIs tapped into our deepest worries about healthcare—long waits at the doctor's office, confusing medical information and the wish for constant health guidance.—
Sanath Chilakala,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Because something very strange happens here.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Probably not, given the company’s strange hesitance to part ways with its current leadership.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mystifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mystifying. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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