perplex
English
Etymology
From Old French, from Latin perplexus (“entangled, confused”), from per (“through”) + plexus, perfect passive participle of plectō (“plait, weave, braid”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: pərplĕksʹ, IPA(key): /pɚˈplɛks/
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: pəplĕksʹ, IPA(key): /pəˈplɛks/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛks
Verb
perplex (third-person singular simple present perplexes, present participle perplexing, simple past and past participle perplexed)
- (transitive) To cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
- (transitive) To involve; to entangle; to make intricate or complicated.
- 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 6963663:
- What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view.
-
- (transitive, obsolete) To plague; to vex; to torment.
- 1726, George Granville, Chloe
- 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
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:confuse
Related terms
- perplexable
- perplexation
- perplexed
- perplexedness
- perplexing
- perplexity
- perplexment
Translations
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Adjective
perplex (comparative more perplex, superlative most perplex)
- (obsolete) intricate; difficult
- 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica:
- 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.
-
Noun
perplex (plural perplexes)
- (obsolete) A difficulty.
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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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)
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pɛʁˈplɛks/
- Rhymes: -ɛks
- Hyphenation: per‧plex
Audio (file)
Adjective
perplex (strong nominative masculine singular perplexer, comparative perplexer, superlative am perplexesten)
Declension
Related terms
- Perplexität
Further reading
- “perplex” in Duden online
- “perplex” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “perplex” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
Romanian
Adjective
perplex m or n (feminine singular perplexă, masculine plural perplecși, feminine and neuter plural perplexe)
Declension
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative | indefinite | perplex | perplexă | perplecși | perplexe | ||
definite | perplexul | perplexa | perplecșii | perplexele | |||
genitive/ dative | indefinite | perplex | perplexe | perplecși | perplexe | ||
definite | perplexului | perplexei | perplecșilor | perplexelor |
Swedish
Declension
Inflection of perplex | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | perplex | mer perplex | mest perplex |
Neuter singular | perplext | mer perplext | mest perplext |
Plural | perplexa | mer perplexa | mest perplexa |
Masculine plural3 | perplexe | mer perplexa | mest perplexa |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | perplexe | mer perplexe | mest perplexe |
All | perplexa | mer perplexa | mest perplexa |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |