1. To baffle or confuse mentally by presenting or being a difficult problem or matter. 2. To clarify or solve (something confusing) by reasoning or study: He puzzled out the significance of the statement.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To be perplexed. 2. To ponder over a problem in an effort to solve or understand it.
NOUN:
1. Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling. 2. Something that baffles or confuses. 3. The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment.
ETYMOLOGY:
Origin unknown.
OTHER FORMS:
puzzler —NOUN
SYNONYMS:
puzzle, perplex, mystify, bewilder, confound These verbs mean to cause bafflement or confusion. Puzzle suggests difficulty in solving or interpreting something: “The poor creature puzzled me once . . . by a question merely natural and innocent” (Daniel Defoe). Perplex stresses uncertainty or anxiety, as over reaching an understanding or finding a solution: a dilemma that perplexed the committee.Mystify implies defying comprehension by obscuring facts: symbolism that mystifies me.Bewilder emphasizes extreme mental confusion: “The old know what they want; the young are sad and bewildered” (Logan Pearsall Smith). To confound is to confuse and astonish: God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (I Corinthians 1:27).
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