adj · noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:P AH1 Z AH0 L IH0 NG
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:P AH1 Z L IH0 NG
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Time spent pondering something confusing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
present participle and gerund of puzzle
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adjective satellite
Meaning 4
lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
sent confusing signals to Iraq
perplexing to someone who knew nothing about it
a puzzling statement
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: confusing, perplexing
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
not clear to the understanding
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
I didn't grasp the meaning of that enigmatic comment until much later
prophetic texts so enigmatic that their meaning has been disputed for centuries
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: enigmatic, enigmatical
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
No etymology was provided for this word.
Across languages
Translations
17 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Azerbaijani:
müəmmalı
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Dutch:
raadselachtig
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Dutch:
verwarrend
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Galician:
confuso
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
German:
verwirrend
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
German:
rätselhaft
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Italian:
misterioso
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Italian:
enigmatico
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Latin:
perplexus
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Māori:
pōkīkī
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Norwegian:
forunderlig
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Portuguese:
intrigante
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Portuguese:
desconcertante
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Portuguese:
confuso
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Serbo-Croatian:
nerazùmljiv
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Serbo-Croatian:
zàmršen
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
Serbo-Croatian:
zbùnjujūći
— difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing
