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puzzling

/ˈpʌzəlɪŋ/
/ˈpʌzəlɪŋ/
IPA guide

Other forms: puzzlingly

Something that's puzzling is confusing, or hard to understand. It might seem puzzling to you that your best friend claims to hate doughnuts.

People sometimes act in puzzling ways, making decisions that you can't comprehend. You might also come across particularly puzzling questions on a test or quiz — these are the hard ones, taking a long time to figure out and requiring a lot of thought. Puzzling comes from the verb puzzle, whose origin is a bit of a puzzle itself. Some experts guess that it comes from pose, formed the way nuzzle is from nose.

Definitions of puzzling
  1. adjective
    not clear to the understanding
    synonyms: enigmatic, enigmatical
    incomprehensible, uncomprehensible
    difficult to understand
  2. adjective
    lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity
    “a puzzling statement”
    synonyms: confusing, perplexing
    unclear
    not clear to the mind
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