Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

perplex

American  
[per-pleks] / pərˈplɛks /

verb (used with object)

  1. to cause to be puzzled or bewildered over what is not understood or certain; confuse mentally.

    Her strange response perplexed me.
    Synonyms:
    confound, mystify

  2. to make complicated or confused, as a matter or question.

    Synonyms:
    snarl, tangle

  3. to hamper with complications, confusion, or uncertainty.

    Synonyms:
    bother, annoy, vex
perplex British  
/ pəˈplɛks /

verb

  1. to puzzle; bewilder; confuse

  2. to complicate

    to perplex an issue
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • perplexer noun

Etymology

Origin of perplex

First recorded in 1585–95; back formation from perplexed

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.