PUZZLING Synonyms: 214 Similar and Opposite Words

puzzling 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of puzzling

as in inexplicable

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Dissimilar Words

as in perplexing

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Dissimilar Words

puzzling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of puzzle

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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of puzzling

Adjective

The puzzling ‘Beefcake’ fossil For Zietlow, Tylosaurus rex’s origin story began in 2020 in New York City. — Mindy Weisberger, CNN Money, 28 May 2026 Lugging one of the least productive offenses in the American League, no doubt the Royals would like to get to that same place about Caglianone — who after a puzzling day off Sunday had two doubles in KC’s 3-1 loss to Boston on Monday at Kauffman Stadium. — Kansas City Star, 19 May 2026

Verb

Police are investigating after puzzling footage posted online shows a group of men emerging from a manhole in Brooklyn early Friday morning. — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 29 May 2026 Johnson insists that feels fine, so the loss of velocity is puzzling to the Angels. — Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 18 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for puzzling

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puzzling

Adjective

They were shocked by their inexplicable sloppiness, by a flop that not a single one of them could answer for.

— Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 7 July 2026
And those benefits, the story goes, are endangered by an inexplicable quirk in the law that applies Social Security payroll taxes to only the first $184,500 in annual wages (a figure that rises annually with wage inflation).

— Jessica Riedl, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026

Definition of inexplicable

Adjective

For some, evoking death and sacrifice was perplexing and distasteful; a step too far.

— Harry Booth, Time, 17 July 2026
His off-court activity in the final days before he was shipped to Milwaukee included a classy and thoughtful farewell message on Monday but also included perplexing behavior that triggered a social media backlash days earlier.

— Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 7 July 2026

Definition of perplexing

Verb

The Illinois numbers, especially this year’s, are baffling experts.

— Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 21 June 2026
For more than four minutes Darnold drove downfield, connecting on three of four passes, baffling the pass rushers, bleeding the clock, and by the time the Seahawks finally gave the ball back, the Rams had only 25 seconds to live.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026

Definition of baffling

Adjective

The argumentative duo are summoned to investigate a murder in rural Nebraska that has mysterious connections to dangerous extraterrestrials.

— Jordan Moreau, Variety, 16 July 2026
Another notable sculptor of fabric (often jersey) was the mysterious Madame Grès (Germaine Émilie Krebs), to whom innumerable designers have paid homage, including Yohji Yamamoto, Mossi Traoré, Richard Malone, and Francesco Murano.

— Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 16 July 2026

Definition of mysterious

Adjective

Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
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

Definition of confounding

Verb

But these casting decisions are bewildering, to say the least, and will certainly cost the film ticket sales and potential revenue.

— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2026
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.

— Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 3 June 2026

Definition of bewildering

Adjective

There have been times when acts of atrocity have been going on — and gosh, some of those things are incomprehensible — yet humanity has found a way.

— Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2026
Being joyful there — in the Dominican Republic, where small shacks and houses pieced together by junkyard scraps sometimes hold families with over a dozen members — seems incomprehensible.

— Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 25 June 2026

Definition of incomprehensible

Adjective

When this place is eventually gone — a phrase that feels truly bizarre given the environment this summer and the half-century preceding it — the lasting images will be the seas of red.

— Sam McDowell Updated July 3, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
Continue reading … 'DEEPLY WEIRD' — CNN panel's bizarre 'read as Jewish' comment about a senator draws fierce blowback.

— , FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026

Definition of bizarre

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“Puzzling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puzzling. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of puzzling

adjective

verb

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