puzzle

Meaning

Noun

1. Anything that is difficult to understand or make sense of.
2. A game for one or more people that is more or less difficult to work out or complete.
3. A crossword puzzle.
4. A jigsaw puzzle.
5. A riddle.
6. (archaic) Something made with marvellous skill; something of ingenious construction.
7. The state of being puzzled; perplexity.

Verb

1. (transitive) To perplex, confuse, or mystify; to cause (someone) to be faced with a mystery, without answers or an explanation.
2. (intransitive) To think long and carefully in bewilderment.
3. (transitive) To make intricate or difficult to resolve; to entangle.

Synonyms

riddle

enigma

perplex

confuse

problem

bewilder

mystery

confound

conundrum

baffle

mystify

dumbfound

trouble

embarrass

perplexity

question

❓

jigsaw puzzle

🧩

stupefy

startle

stun

poser

stagger

nonplus

amaze

disconcert

puzzler

bewilderment

stick

quandary

quiz

pose

astound

dismay

vex

mislead

take aback

jigsaw

🧩

alarm

teaser

get

appal

bemuse

secret

㊙️

query

beat

entangle

complicate

mystifier

distress

abash

Translations

Rätsel

raadsel

énigme

puzzle

🧩

rompecabezas

🧩

enigma

Puzzle

🧩

puzzel

devinette

enigma

casse-tête

rompicapo

enigma

mystère

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpʌzəl/

Etymology

Origin uncertain; originally pusle. Possibly from pose (“to perplex, puzzle, interrogate”) + -le (frequentative suffix). The verb (1590s) “to perplex” seems to predate the noun “state of being perplexed” (circa 1600), “perplexing question” (1650s), “toy” (1814).