1
Core action
Confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
Example
The contradictory result baffled researchers.
baffle
/ˈbæfəl/ · BAF-ulverb
Confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
Use baffle to express this relationship precisely: confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
What baffle Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Common construction
Use this expression in its normal grammatical frame so the relationship between the surrounding ideas remains explicit.
Example
The code continued to baffle experienced analysts.
3
Reasoning effect
It tells the reader how to interpret the timing, scope, evidence, contrast, condition, or consequence in the statement.
Example
A later discovery explained what had baffled historians.
Use baffle Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
The contradictory result baffled researchers.
The code continued to baffle experienced analysts.
A later discovery explained what had baffled historians.
Precision Matters
Baffle overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
baffle
vs.Means confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
elucidate
Means make an idea, process, or problem clear by explaining it carefully.
baffle
vs.Means confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
ascertain
Means find out or establish a fact with certainty through investigation, observation, or evidence.
baffle
vs.Means confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
clarity
Means the quality of being clear, intelligible, precise, or easy to perceive.
baffle
vs.Means confuse, puzzle, or make something difficult to understand or explain.
perplex
Means puzzle or confuse someone, especially through complexity or uncertainty.
Test baffle in Context
The symbols thoroughly puzzle the specialists.
1
The manuscript's unknown symbols continue to ___ every specialist who examines them.