perplexity means the state or quality of being perplexed.
perplexity is pronounced /pəˈplɛksɪti/.
Why “perplexity” is a great word
A state of being entangled in uncertainty by something intricately complicated. From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from Latin perplexus ('entangled, confused'). Unlike 'confusion,' a general state of disorder, or 'clarity,' its direct opposite, perplexity is the specific, often intellectual, entanglement in a knotty problem. It is the stalled moment over a chessboard, the labyrinthine syntax of a legal clause, the quiet desperation before a puzzle whose pieces refuse to cohere—the dignified recognition of a mind honestly snagged by the world's profound complexity.
Etymology
From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from perplexus (“entangled”). By surface analysis, perplex + -ity.
noun
- The state or quality of being perplexed.
- Something that perplexes.e.g.“The Emperor, who was by then a focus of unresolvable perplexities, stood providing a strongly contrary appearance.”
- A measure of how well a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- quandary 90% match — A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement. vs perplexity →
- bewildered 89% match — Baffled, confused, mystified, at a loss, not thinking clearly, or uncertain. vs perplexity →
- confound 89% match — To perplex or puzzle. vs perplexity →
- bewilder 88% match — To confuse, disorientate, or puzzle someone, especially with many different choices. vs perplexity →
- nonplus 88% match — A state of bewilderment or perplexity. vs perplexity →
- bafflement 88% match — The result or state of being baffled, confused, or puzzled; a shocked feeling of perplexed bewilderment, caused by being utterly unable to understand something or to move on from one's incomprehension. vs perplexity →
- bewilderment 88% match — The state of being bewildered. vs perplexity →
- imbroglio 87% match — A complicated situation; an entanglement. vs perplexity →