Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

keep someone guessing

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.92 in modern English

Syllables: keep- -some-one guess-ing
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

5

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To act in such a way that others do not fully understand what one has done or do not know what to expect next.

Example Sentences

"She could not even dimly understand Helen's merry protestation that it was fun to make people wonder and keep them guessing."
"But I do like to delight people with intense, focused, essential flavors, to give them the pure joy of fresh asparagus in springtime. I'm looking to amuse them and maybe (occasionally) keep them guessing: "How did he get that asparagus to taste so... asparagussy?""
"Being slightly off one’s trolley Uppermost in my list of top four teaching behaviours is being ever-so-slightly crazy ... to keep students guessing whether or not I have lost my marbles, and being not quite so predictable."

Inflected Forms

keeps someone guessing (present, singular) keeping someone guessing (participle, present) kept someone guessing (participle, past) kept someone guessing (past)

Questions

What does keep someone guessing mean?: To act in such a way that others do not fully understand what one has done or do not know what to expect next.

How to pronounce keep someone guessing

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “keep someone guessing”.
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