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[ adjective ] not clear to the understanding
Synonyms Examples "I didn't grasp the meaning of that enigmatic comment until much later" "prophetic texts so enigmatic that their meaning has been disputed for centuries" Used in print (Edward P. Lawton, "Northern Liberals and Southern...)This is puzzling to an outsider conscious of the classic tradition of liberalism , because it is clear that these Democrats who are left-of-center are at opposite poles from the liberal Jefferson , who held that the best government was the least government . Related terms |
| 2 |
[ adjective ] lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity
Synonyms Examples "sent confusing signals to Iraq" "perplexing to someone who knew nothing about it" "a puzzling statement" Used in print (H. A. Gleason, "Review of African language studies...)There we see a basically simple phonemic_system enmeshed in a very complex and puzzling morphophonemic_system . This hypothesis will account_for a large part of the difficulties of tonal analysis , as well as the fact that vowel_systems are often more puzzling than consonantal_systems . Related terms |
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