Dictionary Definition
perplex
Verb
1 be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats
me!"; "Got me--I don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This
question really stuck me" [syn: vex, stick, get, puzzle, mystify, baffle, beat, pose, bewilder, flummox, stupefy, nonplus, gravel, amaze, dumbfound]
2 make more complicated; "There was a new
development that complicated the matter" [syn: complicate] [ant: simplify]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɛks
Verb
- Cause to feel baffled; puzzle.
Translations
- Finnish: hämmentää, saattaa ymmälle
Related terms
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
addle,
addle the wits, ail,
amaze, appanage, astonish, astound, awe, awestrike, babble, baffle, balk, ball up, bamboozle, be Greek to, be
beyond one, be incredible, be the matter, be too deep, be
unbelievable, beat, beat
one, becloud, bedaze, bedazzle, befog, befuddle, beset, bewilder, birthright, blast, boggle, bother, bowl down, bowl over,
brave, buffalo, bug, cap, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, cloud, complicate, complicate
matters, concern,
confound, confront, confuse, contravene, counter, counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, dash, daze, dazzle, defeat, defy, destroy, discombobulate, discomfit, discommode, discompose, disconcert, discountenance, dish, disorganize, disorient, disrupt, distract, distress, disturb, dumbfound, dumbfounder, elude, embarrass, embrangle, ensnarl, entangle, escape one, fill with
doubt, flabbergast,
floor, flummox, flurry, fluster, flutter, fog, foil, foul up, frustrate, fuddle, fuss, get, gibber, harass, implicate, inconvenience, involve, irk, keep in suspense, knock the
chocks, knot, lagniappe, largess, lick, lose one, louse up, maze, mess up, mist, mix up, moider, muck, muck up, muddle, mystify, need explanation,
nonplus, not make sense,
not penetrate, overwhelm, palm oil, paralyze, pass belief, pass
comprehension, perks,
perquisite, perturb, petrify, plague, pose, pother, pourboire, prerogative, privilege, put out, put to it,
puzzle, raise hell,
ramify, rattle, ravel, riddle, ruffle, ruin, sabotage, scotch, screw up, snarl, snarl up, speak in tongues,
spike, spoil, stagger, startle, stick, stonewall, strike dead, strike
dumb, strike with wonder, stumble, stump, stun, stupefy, stymie, surprise, talk double Dutch,
tangle, throw, throw into confusion,
thwart, tip, torment, trouble, unsettle, upset, vex, worry