Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Perplexed |
PerplexedAdjective1. Full or difficulty or confusion or bewilderment; "perplexed language"; "perplexed state of the world". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "perplexed" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
| Antonym: unperplexed (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Complexity | Adjective: gnarled, knarled. complex, complexed; intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable; irreducible. |
Convolution | Involved, intricate, complicated, perplexed; labyrinth, labyrinthic, labyrinthian, labyrinthine; peristaltic; daedalian; kinky, knotted. |
Unintelligibility | Indefinite, garbled; (indistinct); perplexed; (confused); undetermined, vague, loose, ambiguous; mysterious; mystic, mystical; acroamatic, acroamatical; metempirical; transcendental; occult, recondite, abstruse, crabbed. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Perplexed |
| English words defined with "perplexed": at sea ♦ baffled, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, bother ♦ confounded, confoundedly, confused ♦ Free-minded ♦ lost ♦ mazed, metagrabolised, metagrabolized, metagrobolised, metagrobolized, mix up, mixed-up, mystified ♦ perplexedly ♦ questioning, quizzical ♦ Self-perplexed, Stand of colors, stump ♦ unbaffled, unconfused. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "perplexed": Alms ♦ Bithynia ♦ Corset ♦ In a fix ♦ KETTLE OF FISH ♦ Odds ♦ Riches ♦ Ship, Smoke ♦ Werewolf. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Handsome Hero Perplexed by Love (1951) Perplexed (1994) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | In a scene from the movie, "A Funny thing happened on the way to the Forum," Zero Mostel, standing behind a wall with a perplexed expression, listens to Michael Crawford, who is hanging upside down.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Edmund Burke | In such a strait the wisest may well be perplexed and the boldest staggered. |
John Donne | Poor intricated soul! Riddling, perplexed, labyrinthical soul! |
Robert Louis Stevenson | Quite minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | It perplexed, as well as shocked her, by the irreverent inopportuneness of the occasions that brought it into vivid action. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Furthermore, Fauchelevent was perplexed. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | They knew that a man so hurt and so perplexed may turn in anger, even on people he loves. |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | There was another point which a little perplexed him at present. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Patients should consider how many patients a physician treats each year. Because many patients are understandably perplexed or frightened by a CNS tumor diagnosis, it is also important that they choose a physician who will answer questions and describe treatment options clearly and fully. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | WEREWOLF, n. A wolf that was once, or is sometimes, a man. All werewolves are of evil disposition, having assumed a bestial form to gratify a beastial appetite, but some, transformed by sorcery, are as humane and is consistent with an acquired taste for human flesh. Some Bavarian peasants having caught a wolf one evening, tied it to a post by the tail and went to bed. The next morning nothing was there! Greatly perplexed, they consulted the local priest, who told them that their captive was undoubtedly a werewolf and had resumed its human for during the night. "The next time that you take a wolf," the good man said, "see that you chain it by the leg, and in the morning you will find a Lutheran." |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Laura Schlessinger | I am just perplexed because without having had relationships one wonders how somebody could be in such the mode to want to do such harm. To me, this is a mystery on top of a mystery. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
John Quincy Adams | 1825-1829 | The duties of both are obvious in the general principle, though sometimes perplexed with difficulties in the detail. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Perplexed" is generally used as a lexical verb (past participle) -- approximately 51.75% of the time. "Perplexed" is used about 114 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (past participle) | 51.75% | 59 | 44,010 |
| Lexical Verb (past tense) | 23.68% | 27 | 66,962 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 18.42% | 21 | 76,261 |
| Noun (proper) | 6.14% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Total | 100.00% | 114 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "perplexed": become perplexed. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "perplexed": Self-perplexed. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
perplexed | 13 |
afflicted but but crushed despair driven every in not not perplexed way we | 7 |
a guide for the perplexed | 6 |
bloodhound perplexed | 3 |
god guide perplexed | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "perplexed"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | verward (dazed, upset), verbysterd (dazed, upset), deurmekaar (dazed, upset), bedremmeld (dazed, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | në mëdyshje (haltingly, hesitant, hesitantly, hesitatingly, puzzled, vacillating), i shushatur (distracted, dizzy, thunderstruck), i hutuar (abashed, absent, absentminded, bewildered, confused, disconcerted, distracted, dizzy, foggy, inadvertent, muddle-headed, puzzle-headed, puzzle-pated, vague). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | متحير (bewildered, confounded, confused, discomfited, distracted, embarrassed, nonplused, puzzled), مرتبك (agitated, baffled, bemused, bewildered, confounded, confused, discomfited, disconcerted, disquieted, disturbed, embarrassed, lummox, perturbed, puzzled, uneasy, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | смутен (abashed, confused, constrained, disconcerted, distraught, embarrassed, muddle-headed, muzzy, perturbed, raddle, self conscious, sheepish, uneasy, unrestful), сложен (aggregate, complex, complicated, compound, convoluted, daedalian, elaborate, integrate, intricate, knotty, multiplex, perplexing, sinuous, subtle, tangly, tricky), труден (arduous, awkward, complex, difficile, difficult, dodgy, formidable, heavy, knotty, laborious, lively, painful, perplexing, pick-and-shovel, rocky, sore, spiny, stroppy, taxing, thorny, ticklish, tight, tough, tricky, troublesome, uphill, warm), озадачен (bushed, puzzled, quizzical), объркан (addle-brained, bushed, confused, deranged, disconcerted, distraught, embarrassed, foggy, graven, haywire, helter-skelter, intricate, involute, lost, mazy, mixed, mixed up, muddle-headed, muddy, muzzy, obscure, punch-drunk, puzzle-headed, puzzle-pated, raddle, tangly, turbid, undigested, unglued, woolly). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 熒 (dazzling, glimmer, glimmering, Polyeonatum officinale). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | pomatený (deranged, distempered, haywire, moonstruck, moony, out of one's mind, paranoid, scatter-brained, unbalanced). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | beteuterd (dazed, taken aback, upset), beduusd (dazed, upset), bedremmeld (dazed, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | perpleksa (taken aback), konfuzita (dazed, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | hamskiftur (taken aback). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | ymmällä (bewildered, confused, taken aback). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | perplexe, embarrassé. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frisian | ferbjustere (dazed, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | perplex (bewildered, dumbfounded, mystified, thunderstruck). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | αμηχανών. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מבולבל (addled, confused, disturbed, flurried, fuddled, incoherent, muddleheaded, upset), אובד עצות (embarrassed, helpless), נבוך (bemused, bewildered, confused, embarrassed, foxed, hot under the collar, ill at ease, in a stew, perturbed, self conscious, sheepish). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | megzavarodott (baffled, befuddled, distraught, mixed, unbalanced). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | kalap (bewitched, enchanted, possessed, puzzled, upset), bingung (confused, disoriented, distrait, mixed up, panicky, perturbed, puzzled, rattled, wool-gathering). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | turbato (dazed, distraught, disturbed, disturbing, upset), perplesso (bewildered, confused, distracted, distraught, helpless, puzzled), confuso (abashed, addled, confounded, confused, dazed, fuzzy, haywire, hazy, higgledy-piggledy, hugger mugger, indistinct, messy, pell mell, promiscuous, shamefaced, upset, woolly, wooly). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 迷う (to be perplexed, to be puzzled, to lose one's way). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | まよう (to be perplexed, to be puzzled, to lose one's way), こまりきる (to be greatly embarrassed, to be greatly perplexed), こまりはてる (to be greatly embarrassed, to be greatly perplexed), よわまる (to abate, to be dejected, to be emaciated, to be perplexed, to weaken), よわる (to be dejected, to be downcast, to be emaciated, to be perplexed, to be troubled, to impair, to weaken), とまどう (to be bewildered, to be perplexed). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malay | bingung (dazed, upset). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | fud y cheilley (at variance, chaotic, confused, confusing, confusion, dishevelled, disorder, disordered, embarrassed, flustered, mixed up, muddle, muddled, tangled, topsy-turvy), boirit (agitated, bothered, concerned, confused, disturbed, edgy, embarrassed, grieved, pestered, preoccupied, teased, vexed, woeful, worried), anveaghit (annoyed, disturbed). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | erplexedpay perplexo (confused, foible, mazy, perplexity). (various references) perplex (confused), nedumerit (perplex, perplexedly), dezorientat (bewildered), complicat (complicated, daedal, deep, difficult, elaborate, intricate, intricately, obscure, perplex, tangled, tricky, turbid), încurcat (daedal, difficult, embarrassed, foul, intricate, involved, matted, perplexedly, puzzling, tangled, tortuous, winding), încâlcit (addle, intricate, intricately, matted, puzzling, tangled). (various references) растерянный (at a loss, bemused, embarrassed), ошеломленный (aghast, bemused, dizzy, flabbergasted, spellbound, staggering, thunderstruck), запутанный (anfractuous, complected, complicated, crinkum-crankum, Daedalian, embroiled, entangled, implex, inextricable, involved, knotty, labyrinthine, mazy, tangly). (various references) zamršen (complicated, knotted, knotty, tangly), komplikovan (complicated, involute). (various references) perplejo (at a loss, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, bushed, confounded, leak, puzzled). (various references) rådvill (irresolute), rådlös (irresolute, shiftless). (various references) kafası karışmış (addle, addled, bemused, confused, puzzled, puzzle-headed), şaşırmış (all at sea, all out, amazed, at a loss, baffled, bewildered, blank, confounded, confused, disoriented, distracted, lost, punch-drunk, puzzled, surprised, taken aback, twisted, wondering), anlaşılmaz (bottomless, clear as mud, complicated, deep, delphic, elusive, elusory, fathomless, impenetrable, inapprehensible, inarticulate, incomprehensible, inconceivable, inexplicable, inscrutable, intangible, obscure, occult, opaque, oracular, puzzling, recondite, sphinxlike, unaccountable, uncanny, unintelligible, vague, weird), çapraşık (complicated, entangled, inexplicit, recondite). (various references) яygrykmak (become embarassed). (various references) спантеличений (baffled, bemused, blank, distracted, dizzy, raddled), сплутаний (confused, hurly burly, matted), заплутаний (complex, complicated, entangled, implicate, inextricable, intricate, involved, knotted, knotty, mazy, muzzy, tangled, wandered), приголомшений (aghast, bemused, dumbfounded, mused, shocked, spellbound, thunderstruck). (various references) rắc rối (complex, complicated, involute, involved, perplexity, tangly), lúng túng (chancery, disconcerted, embarrassed, sheepish, tongue), khó hiểu (deep, delphian, delphic, enigmatic, enigmatical, incomprehensible, intricate, mysterious, oracular, recondite, riddling, unintelligible, weird), bối rối phức tạp. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | confusa, confusi, confusum, confusus, conturbata, conturbatae, conturbati, conturbatum, conturbatumque, conturbatus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 24, Verse 4 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai egeneto en tw diaporeisqai autaV peri toutou kai idou duo andreV epesthsan autaiV en esqhsesin astraptousaiV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et factum est dum mente consternatae essent de isto ecce duo viri steterunt secus illas in veste fulgenti |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | And þa wæs geworden þa hig on mode afæryde wæron be þyson þa stodon twegen weras wið hig on hwitum reafe: |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And it was don, the while thei weren astonyed in thouyt of this thing, lo! twei men stoden bisidis hem in schynynge cloth. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And it happened as they were amased therat: Beholde two men stode by them in shynynge vestures. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed at this, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And while they were in doubt about it, they saw two men in shining clothing by them: |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 24, Verse 4 |
| Cebuano | Ug sa nangalibog sila tungod niini, tan-awa, tupad kanila dihay nanagtindog nga duha ka lalaki nga may bisti nga masilaw; |
| Croatian | I dok su stajale zbunjene nad tim, gle, dva èovjeka u blistavoj odjeæi stadoše do njih. |
| Danish | Og det skete, da de vare tvivlrådige om dette, se, da stode to Mænd for dem i strålende Klædebon. |
| Dutch | En het geschiedde, als zij daarover twijfelmoedig waren, zie, twee mannen stonden bij haar in blinkende klederen. |
| Finnish | Ja kun he olivat tästä ymmällä, niin katso, kaksi miestä seisoi heidän edessään säteilevissä vaatteissa. |
| French | Comme elles ne savaient que penser de cela, voici, deux hommes leur apparurent, en habits resplendissants. |
| German | Und da sie darum bekümmert waren, siehe, da traten zu ihnen zwei Männer mit glänzenden Kleidern. |
| Haitian Creole | Yo te la konsa, yo pa t' konn sa pou yo te fè lè de moun parèt devan yo ak rad yo byen klere. |
| Hungarian | És lõn, hogy mikor õk e felett megdöbbenének, ímé két férfiú álla melléjök fényes öltözetben: |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Sementara mereka berdiri di situ dan bingung memikirkan hal itu, tiba-tiba dua orang dengan pakaian berkilau-kilauan berdiri dekat mereka. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka sedang mereka itu termangu-mangu, tiba-tiba ada dua orang terdiri di sisinya berpakaian yang bersinar-sinar. |
| Italian | Mentre erano ancora incerte, ecco due uomini apparire vicino a loro in vesti sfolgoranti. |
| Maori | Na, i a ratou e pokaikaha ana ki tenei, na, tu ana nga tangata tokorua i o ratou taha, uira tonu nga kakahu. |
| Norwegian | Og det skjedde mens de stod rådville ved dette, se, da stod to menn hos dem i skinnende klædebon; |
| Portuguese | E, estando elas perplexas a esse respeito, eis que lhes apareceram dois varões em vestes resplandecentes; |
| Rumanian | Fiindcq nu wtiau ce sq creadq, iatq cq li s`au arqtat doi bqrbayi, kmbrqcayi kn haine strqlucitoare. |
| Russian | лПЗДБ ЦЕ ОЕДПХНЕЧБМЙ ПОЙ П УЕН, ЧДТХЗ РТЕДУФБМЙ РЕТЕД ОЙНЙ ДЧБ НХЦБ Ч ПДЕЦДБИ ВМЙУФБАЭЙИ. |
| Shuar | Wáinkiachu ásar ashamkarmiayi. Tura "itiurkatjik" tiarmiayi. Tumai Jimiará aishmankan pushin wincharpatniun entsaru niin ayaamach wajainian Wáinkiarmiayi. |
| Swahili | Walipokuwa bado wanashangaa juu ya jambo hilo, mara watu wawili waliovaa mavazi yenye kung`aa sana, wakasimama karibu nao. |
| Swedish | När de nu icke visste vad de skulle tänka härom, se, då stodo två man framför dem i skinande kläder. |
| Uma | Bula-ra mokore nakeni ka'ingu' -ra, muu-mule' mehupa' rodua tomane to moheai meringkila' mokore hi ncori-ra. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "perplexed": perplexedly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Perplexed" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: perlexed, perpexed, preplexe, preplexed. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "perplexed" (pronounced perple"kst) |
| 5 | -l e" k s t | flexed. |
| 4 | -e" k s t | next, sexed, teletext, text, vexed. |
| 3 | -k s t | affixed, angst, annexed, axed, boxed, climaxed, coaxed, context, faxed, fixed, flummoxed, hypertext, indexed, intermixed, mixed, nixed, outfoxed, overtaxed, pretext, relaxed, subtext, taxed, transfixed, unmixed, untaxed, videotext, waxed, xeroxed. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-e-e-l-p-p-r-x" | |
-2 letters: perplex, reexpel. | |
-3 letters: deeper, leered, pedler, peeled, peeler, peeped, peeper, peered, reeled, repled, repped. | |
-4 letters: elder, expel, leper, preed, repel. | |
-5 letters: deep, deer, dele, dere, dree, epee, leer, peed, peel, peep, peer, pele, perp, pled, pree, prep, prex, rede, reed, reel, repp. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-e-e-l-p-p-r-x" | |
+2 letters: perplexedly. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 65 72 70 6C 65 78 65 64 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).--. . .-. .--. .-.. . -..- . -.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "perplexed" |
