puzzling

1. 1
   adjective

   Hard to understand or figure out.

   Like a question that has no clear answer.

   The map had a puzzling symbol that nobody could explain.

   Her short answer was puzzling, so we asked again.

   Similarperplexing, baffling, bewildering, mystifying, confusing

   Oppositeclear, obvious, straightforward, understandable

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of puzzle. Use this form for something happening right now.

   She is puzzling over the strange letter on the table.

   The children were puzzling about where the odd noise came from.

   Note
3. 3
   noununcountable

   Time you spend thinking hard about something confusing.

   Like sitting with a hard riddle until it finally makes sense.

   After much puzzling, she finally understood the riddle.

   It took some puzzling to work out the train schedule.

   Similarpondering, deliberation, thought, head-scratching, rumination

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