Meaning & use
perplexity
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Meanings
noununcountable
The feeling of being confused because you cannot understand something.
Grammar: Uncountable here, so no plural and no 'a' before it: 'She stared in perplexity.'
Patterns
- in perplexity
- perplexity at something
- perplexity about something
He looked at the instructions in complete perplexity.
Her perplexity grew as the professor's explanation became more abstract.
I listened in perplexity, unable to follow his argument at all.
nouncountable
Something that is difficult to understand or explain; a puzzle.
Grammar: Countable in this sense, so you can say 'a perplexity' or 'perplexities'.
Patterns
- a perplexity to someone
The strange result was a perplexity to everyone in the lab.
The committee faced several legal perplexities before it could act.
noununcountableformal
A state of being complicated and hard to deal with.
Grammar: Used with 'of' to name the thing that is complicated: 'the perplexity of the rules'.
Patterns
- the perplexity of something
The perplexity of the tax system discourages small businesses.
We underestimated the perplexity of the whole situation.
Common combinations
- in perplexity
- She shook her head in perplexity.
- complete perplexity
- His face showed complete perplexity.
- a source of perplexity
- The missing files were a source of perplexity for the police.
- express perplexity
- Several parents expressed perplexity about the new timetable.
- a look of perplexity
- There was a look of perplexity on her face.
Synonyms and how they differ
- confusion
- More common and less formal; it can also describe a messy situation, which perplexity cannot.
- puzzlement
- Very close in meaning, but it sounds slightly milder and is used more in speech than in writing.
- bewilderment
- Stronger than perplexity; it suggests being so confused that you hardly know what to do.
Opposites
Word family
- perplex verb
- to confuse someone by being difficult to understand
- perplexed adjective
- confused and unsure what to think
- perplexing adjective
- difficult to understand and therefore confusing
Commonly confused: perplexity or perpetuity?
perplexity vs perpetuity
Sounds similar but means 'forever' or 'endless time', as in 'in perpetuity'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'perplexity' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'In perplexity' means in a state of confusion, so sentence 2 fits. Sentence 1 is wrong because solving a puzzle is not a confused state; sentence 3 treats it as a physical thing; sentence 4 uses it as a verb, but the verb is 'perplex'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “perplexity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.