perplex

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin perplexus (“entangled, confused”), from per (“through”) + plexus, perfect passive participle of plectō (“plait, weave, braid”).

Pronunciation

Verb

perplex (third-person singular simple present perplexes, present participle perplexing, simple past and past participle perplexed)

  1. (transitive) To cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
  2. (transitive) To involve; to entangle; to make intricate or complicated.
    • John Locke
      What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To plague; to vex; to torment.
    • Granville
      Chloe's the wonder of her sex, 'Tis well her heart is tender, How might such killing eyes perplex, With virtue to defend her.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:confuse

Translations

Adjective

perplex (comparative more perplex, superlative most perplex)

  1. (obsolete) intricate; difficult
    • Glanvill
      How the soul directs the spirits for the motion of the body, according to the several animal exigents, is perplex in the theory.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for perplex in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Further reading

  • perplex in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • perplex in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • perplex at OneLook Dictionary Search

German

Etymology

From French perplexe, from Latin perplexus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɛʁˈplɛks/
  • Hyphenation: per‧plex
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

perplex (comparative perplexer, superlative am perplexesten)

  1. (colloquial, rarely attributive) confused, perplexed, puzzled
    Synonyms: verdutzt, verblüfft, verwirrt

Declension

Comparative forms of perplex
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist perplexer sie ist perplexer es ist perplexer sie sind perplexer
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative perplexerer perplexere perplexeres perplexere
genitive perplexeren perplexerer perplexeren perplexerer
dative perplexerem perplexerer perplexerem perplexeren
accusative perplexeren perplexere perplexeres perplexere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der perplexere die perplexere das perplexere die perplexeren
genitive des perplexeren der perplexeren des perplexeren der perplexeren
dative dem perplexeren der perplexeren dem perplexeren den perplexeren
accusative den perplexeren die perplexere das perplexere die perplexeren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein perplexerer eine perplexere ein perplexeres (keine) perplexeren
genitive eines perplexeren einer perplexeren eines perplexeren (keiner) perplexeren
dative einem perplexeren einer perplexeren einem perplexeren (keinen) perplexeren
accusative einen perplexeren eine perplexere ein perplexeres (keine) perplexeren
  • Perplexität

Further reading

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