puzzle

Plural: puzzles

Noun

• a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution
  • "he loved to solve chessmate puzzles"
  • "that's a real puzzler"
• a game that tests your ingenuity
• Anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of.
• A game for one or more people that is more or less difficult to work out or complete.
• A crossword puzzle.
• A jigsaw puzzle.
• A riddle.
• Something made with marvellous skill; something of ingenious construction.
• The state of being puzzled; perplexity.

Verb

Verb Forms: puzzled, puzzling, puzzles

• To cause someone to feel confused or uncertain.
• be a mystery or bewildering to
• be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide
  • "We puzzled over her sudden departure"
• To perplex, confuse, or mystify; to cause (someone) to be faced with a mystery, without answers or an explanation.
• To think long and carefully in bewilderment.
• To make intricate or difficult to resolve; to entangle.

Examples

• The complex Scrabble board state would often PUZZLE even the most experienced players.
• to be in a puzzle
• We puzzled over the curious-shaped lock, but were unable to discover how the key should be inserted.
• Where he went after he left the house is a puzzle.

Synonyms

amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystifier, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzler, stick, stupefy, teaser, vex, anybody's guess, anyone's guess, brain-teaser, conundrum, crossword, crossword puzzle, enigma, guessing game, jigsaw, jigsaw puzzle, mystery, poser, riddle

Related Words

puzzlement

Anagrams of puzzle