/ English Dictionary |
PUZZLED
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Example:
puzzled that she left without saying goodbye
Synonyms:
at a loss; nonplused; nonplussed; puzzled
Classified under:
Similar:
perplexed (full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Past simple / past participle of the verb puzzle
Context examples:
An older and more world-wise man might have been puzzled by her varying moods, her sudden prejudices, her quick resentment at all constraint and authority.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My uncle looked hard at her with a puzzled face.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
What has puzzled scientists is why water vapor appears to be missing from the toasty worlds' atmospheres, when it is abundant in similar but slightly cooler planets.
(Water Is Destroyed, Then Reborn in Ultrahot Jupiters, NASA/JPL)
Dorothy was puzzled at this, for it sounded queer to hear a stuffed man speak, and to see him bow and walk along beside her.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Why everybody liked him was what puzzled Jo, at first.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
At ten years old, she had the misfortune of being able to answer questions which puzzled her sister at seventeen.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Now you look puzzled; and I will puzzle you further.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It puzzled her to account for all this.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
This speech at first puzzled Mrs. Jennings exceedingly.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller, said Holmes, for you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)