perplex

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin perplexus (“entangled, confused”), from per (“through”) + plexus, perfect passive participle of plectō (“plait, weave, braid”).

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: pərplĕks', IPA: /pɚˈplɛks/, X-SAMPA: /p@`"plEks/
• Rhymes: -ɛks

Verb

perplex (third-person singular simple present perplexes, present participle perplexing, simple past and past participle perplexed)

1. (transitive) To cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:confuse

Related terms

• perplexed
• perplexing
• perplexity

Translations

To cause to feel baffled

• Finnish: hämmentää (fi), saattaa ymmälle, askarruttaa (fi)

• Russian: озадачивать (ru) (ozadačivatʹ), запутывать (ru) (zaputyvatʹ)

Adjective

perplex (comparative more perplex, superlative most perplex)

1. (obsolete) intricate; difficult

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Glanvill to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

External links

• perplex in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• perplex in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• perplex at OneLook Dictionary Search