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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 question has been that, considering the high competition from other sourcing regions in the vicinity, including Vietnam and Bangladesh, and facing relatively higher labor costs, how can Thailand continue to stay in the game? — Mayu Saini, Footwear News, 12 Aug. 2026 McAlister remaining unsigned has been one of the more puzzling offseason storylines for TCU. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 July 2026

Verb

As the days get shorter and cooler, a simple evening spent puzzling, snacking, and talking may be exactly the kind of gathering everyone needs. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 21 Aug. 2026 In practice, puzzling choices by curators Klaus Biesenbach and Maike Steinkamp rendered the experiment fraught in places. — Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 16 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for puzzling

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puzzling

Adjective

There’s also a brief and inexplicable detour to Murray Hill and a Williamsburg-y Bushwick loft to remind us of simpler times.

— Nora DeLigter, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026
Then again, so is this inexplicable two-and-a-half-year stretch of low-risk, juiceless attacking hockey that Pettersson has just endured.

— Thomas Drance, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of inexplicable

Adjective

Bohm’s Phillies career has been sometimes frustrating, sometimes exciting, sometimes perplexing.

— Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Orbital imagery has shown that unlike its heavily cratered sibling moon, Phobos, which means fear in ancient Greek, Deimos is much smoother — and covered in a perplexing layer of dust and rubble called regolith.

— Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of perplexing

Verb

Despite some protests about a dog contributing to the game, Buddy — clad in a bright blue jersey and two pairs of basketball kicks — scores baffling basket after baffling basket, leaving the other team shocked.

— Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026
While Loathe’s baffling compositional choices may jump out first, the album’s most glaring flaw is its production.

— Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 16 July 2026

Definition of baffling

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

Adjective

War of the Worlds fuses post-9/11 paranoia and the terror of parenting to create one of Spielberg’s most thrilling blockbusters with a dark, genuinely scary atmosphere of ordinary people being wiped out by incomprehensible tragedy.

— Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026
Farnaby’s character, a thickly-accented and mostly-incomprehensible farmer, was, of course, called Barry.

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of incomprehensible

Adjective

The idea that these two would have a five-minute-or-less breakup conversation, then plop down on the couch and happily embark on an acid trip together, strains credulity a little, even for this bizarre, codependent friend group.

— Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
Twenty-eight million views on YouTube certified the bizarre piece as a fan favorite.

— Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026