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
Robert Niles, Oc Register, 25 Nov. 2025
Here are five times what seemed like a harmless toy turned into a puzzling moment online.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2025
Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 12 Jan. 2026
Strange cosmic objects spotted by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are presently puzzling astronomers.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Space.com, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Adjective
Theming an elevated track ride to a submarine remains one of the most puzzling creative choices in theme park history.
—Robert Niles, Oc Register, 25 Nov. 2025
Here are five times what seemed like a harmless toy turned into a puzzling moment online.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
This puzzling decision stems from an earlier controversy.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 12 Jan. 2026
Strange cosmic objects spotted by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are presently puzzling astronomers.
—Nola Taylor Tillman, Space.com, 9 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puzzling
Adjective
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So the choice to focus this one on a makeover for Margaret, a character two levels removed from the plot, is particularly inexplicable.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
5 Jan. 2026
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The network put the kibosh on this story for inexplicable reasons.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The movie is hilarious, fun, disturbing, perplexing, exuberant, exhausting.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
12 Dec. 2025
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The canon can already be described as a bewildering artistic menagerie, including a perplexing assessment of misandrism, body horror by Brian Yuzna, killer toys from the ’90s, and more.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The pilot of a private jet reportedly made an eerie discovery while flying thousands of feet over Rhode Island, marking the latest in unexplained encounters baffling both experts and civilians alike.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
22 Dec. 2025
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From financial wipeouts to baffling misreads of beloved source material, some of Hollywood’s most notorious flops began as video games.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
19 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The other is a smaller, more mysterious handheld chunk of willow or poplar wood that may have been used to shape stone tools, according to research published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.—
Adithi Ramakrishnan,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
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But when a mysterious woman opens The Grand Lisbon restaurant, his glittering world begins to fracture, exposing the fragile balance between success, memory, and longing.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.—
Jeff Howe,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
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What is the most confounding and terrible, however, is Gretchen’s assertion that Slade, the anti-Viagra, doesn’t get involved with the women on his own accord, but only engages because the women always talk about him.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 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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For consumers frustrated by disconnected portals, incomprehensible medical jargon and five-minute doctor visits, this feels like a lifeline.—
Sahar Hashmi,
Forbes.com,
25 Jan. 2026
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The film deserves an enormous amount of credit for its sound design, which allows Tuason to turn recordings that would be incomprehensible in less capable hands into something that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats for two thirds of a movie.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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His work is marked by unusual, even bizarre, material choices that encrust spatial compositions reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovative open space plans.—
Edward Keegan,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Jan. 2026
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Some unnamed Chicago bartender in the early 1880s had the improbable idea of taking a Whiskey Sour and adding a little red wine to the top, inventing in a bizarre flash of insightone of the great warm weather whiskey drinks of our time.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Puzzling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puzzling. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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