as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
it is the cause of the disease that puzzles doctors
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in inexplicable
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Dissimilar Words
2
as in perplexing
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of puzzling
Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Upon further investigation, Mazzola learned the puzzling way UnitedHealthcare diverted the money — drawing up checks payable to Mazzola’s practice and then depositing them into a UnitedHealthcare bank account, the documents show.
—Gretchen Morgenson, NBC news, 20 June 2025
Evan Bush, NBC News, 22 Dec. 2024
The recent sightings of puzzling unidentified aircraft in New Jersey and other states have triggered yet another round of unanswered questions — and fueled conspiracy theories.
—Leonard David, Space.com, 21 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Verb
Down the stretch and into the playoffs, he was also hampered by a puzzling illness that clearly impacted his effectiveness.
—Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025
Upon further investigation, Mazzola learned the puzzling way UnitedHealthcare diverted the money — drawing up checks payable to Mazzola’s practice and then depositing them into a UnitedHealthcare bank account, the documents show.
—Gretchen Morgenson, NBC news, 20 June 2025
Adjective
But in several puzzling cases, no source of infection has been identified.
—Evan Bush, NBC News, 22 Dec. 2024
The recent sightings of puzzling unidentified aircraft in New Jersey and other states have triggered yet another round of unanswered questions — and fueled conspiracy theories.
—Leonard David, Space.com, 21 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puzzling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puzzling
Adjective
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The decline, across the board, was almost inexplicable last season.—
Sam Blum,
New York Times,
29 July 2025
-
The idea that this is how someone responds to pretty basic requests is sort of inexplicable.—
Marina Watts,
People.com,
21 July 2025
Adjective
-
How the company hasn't bought AI start-up Anthropic is downright perplexing, to use the word of the day.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
4 Aug. 2025
-
To Boltzmann’s contemporaries, this was perplexing.—
Leila Sloman,
Wired News,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Sometimes an oven is like that mysterious black box on a magician's stage where odd things go in, and something far more delightful comes out.—
Sheri Castle,
Southern Living,
7 Aug. 2025
-
Things took a turn after the former couple found their dog Musso chewing on a mysterious object.—
Daysia Tolentino,
EW.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Here are just a few examples of the baffling details that the film tries to convince viewers are completely reasonable.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
12 Aug. 2025
-
Even loyal fans may take occasional issue with a feature that’s by turns absurdist, philosophical, violent, wayward, satirical and baffling.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Some events, perhaps especially those that are morally incomprehensible, need to be wrestled with on a human level.—
Will Harris,
EW.com,
3 Aug. 2025
-
Her scream resonated with the one in my chest while also being incomprehensible and beyond me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 July 2025
Adjective
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But the path to controlling it often feels unclear or overwhelming.—
Dan Galorath,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Senate leaders have yet to publicly post three sets of community project reports, so the full scope of potential funding for Wisconsin remains unclear.—
Lawrence Andrea,
jsonline.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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After a couple of insulting caricatures, increasingly bizarre depictions of the Vice President started to spread through the internet, the trend becoming a competition to see who could create the most hideous, weird or original Vance.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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These clever yet bizarre gadgets are both fun and oddly useful.—
Nora Colomer
may earn a commission if you buy through our referral links. This content was created by a team that works independently from the Fox newsroom.,
FOXNews.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The law is vague and broad and included no room for considering the literary merit of the work, and so the result was a wave of book bans across the state.—
Peter Greene,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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My ideas around him were vague and uninformed, mostly of the stiff host tolerating the younger acts.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Puzzling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puzzling. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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