Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

puzzling

/pˈʌzəlɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.13 in modern English

Syllables: puz-zling
IPA: /pˈʌzəlɪŋ/

29

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

present participle and gerund of puzzle

adj

Difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing.

noun

Time spent pondering something confusing.

Example Sentences

"Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.[…]But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme."

Inflected Forms

more puzzling (comparative) most puzzling (superlative) puzzlings (plural)

Derived Forms

puzzlingly puzzlingness

Synonyms

knotty confusing perplexing enigmatic enigmatical

Rhymes With

guzzling

Questions

How do you pronounce puzzling?: The recorded pronunciation is /pˈʌzəlɪŋ/.
What does puzzling mean?: present participle and gerund of puzzle

How to pronounce puzzling

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “puzzling”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/pˈʌzəlɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “puzzling”.
Repeat and practice — Say “puzzling” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.