perplex
UK/pəˈplɛks//pɚˈplɛks/
perplex verb: to cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
Verb
perplex (third-person singular simple present perplexes, present participle perplexing, simple past and past participle perplexed)
- To cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
- To involve; to entangle; to make intricate or complicated.
- What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view.a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC
- The Ways of Heav’n are dark and intricate,
Puzzled in Mazes, and perplext with Errors;
Our Underſtanding traces ’em in vain,
Loſt and bewilder’d in the fruitleſs Search; […]1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2
- To plague; to vex; to torment.
- Chloe's the wonder of her sex, 'Tis well her heart is tender, How might such killing eyes perplex, With virtue to defend her.1726, George Granville, Chloe
- All night no ruder air perplex
Thy sliding keel, till Phosphor, bright
As our pure love, thro’ early light
Shall glimmer on the dewy decks.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto IX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
Adjective
perplex (comparative more perplex, superlative most perplex)
- intricate; difficult
- How the soul directs the spirits for the motion of the body, according to the several animal exigents, is as perplex in the Theory, as either of the former.1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC
- Finally, I explore possible audience interpretations of the film and offer some alternative reading strategies of these highly perplex sketches.2007, Sean Brayton, “MTV's Jackass: Transgression, Abjection and the Economy of White Masculinity”, in Journal of Gender Studies, volume 16, page 58
Noun
perplex (plural perplexes)
- A difficulty.
perplex meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
perplex in Tamil
- குழப்பு
perplex in Urdu
- چکر میں ڈالنا, حیران کرنا, قافیہ تنگ کرنا
perplex in Bengali
- হতভম্ব করা
perplex in Malayalam
- അന്തം വിടുവിക്കുക, അമ്പരപ്പിക്കുക, ചഞ്ചലപ്പെടുത്തുക, കുഴക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- perplex in Kannada
- ತಡಬಡಿಸು, ಕಂಗೆಡು, ಕಯ್ಮರೆ
Forms of perplex
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | perplexes |
| present participle | perplexing |
| past participle | perplexed |
| past | perplexed |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more perplex |
| superlative | most perplex |
| Noun | |
| plural | perplexes |
Origin of perplex
From Old French, from Latin perplexus (“entangled, confused”), from per (“through”) + plexus, perfect passive participle of plectō (“plait, weave, braid”).
Words formed from perplex
Phrases with perplex
Words that rhyme with perplex
Questions about perplex
- What does perplex mean?
- Perplex means to cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
- What is perplex in Tamil?
- Perplex in Tamil is குழப்பு. See Perplex meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is perplex?
- Perplex can be a verb, an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce perplex?
- Perplex is pronounced /pɚˈplɛks/ (US).
- What is the past tense of perplex?
- The past tense of perplex is perplexed.
Words near perplex in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: perplex (page history and authors); perplex (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perplex (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perplex (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perplex (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); perplex (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-perplex.ogg.
Cite this entry: “perplex.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/perplex. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.