perplexing

adjective

per·​plex·​ing pər-ˈplek-siŋ 

: difficult to understand : causing confusion

A perplexing feature of insomnia is that people seem to overestimate their sleep loss.

—Rita L. Atkinson et al.

Chronic acalculous biliary disorders are among the most perplexing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in medicine.

—Richard M. Gore

A perplexing problem, often encountered by cat owners, is that of a refusal to use the litterbox after using it for years in the past.

—Susan L. Mathews

perplexingly adverb

a perplexingly complex problem

This was all that I could observe of her in the dim light and under the perplexingly strange circumstances of our meeting.

—Wilkie Collins

Examples of perplexing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With new mysteries such as dark matter, dark energy, the search for a quantum theory of gravity, the Hubble tension and the cause of the Big Bang all perplexing physicists, now would be a great time for another transformation in science akin to that of a century ago. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Jan. 2025

One of the more perplexing things about the Kings over the first half of the season has been their abysmal home record. —Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 2 Jan. 2025

The pavilion’s perplexing parent company, yeswetrust, seemed to offer everything from crypto to Thai real estate to daily incentives to meditate, drink water, and breathe. —Caitlín Doherty, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025

Three days after the boy discovered the remains, more remains were found by Hamilton County firefighters, perplexing investigators, the station reported. —CBS News, 7 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1585, in the meaning defined above