1.
[syn: baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, tough]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Baffle \Baf"fle\ (b[a^]f"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Baffled
(-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Baffling (-fl[i^]ng).] [Cf.
Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch
tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. b[=a]gr uneasy, poor, or
b[=a]gr, n., struggle, b[ae]gja to push, treat harshly, OF.
beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. b[aum]ppe mouth,
beffen to bark, chide.]
[1913 Webster]
1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a
recreant knight. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
He by the heels him hung upon a tree,
And baffled so, that all which passed by
The picture of his punishment might see. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
[1913 Webster]
The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim.
--Cowper.
[1913 Webster]
3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or
defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." --De Quincey.
[1913 Webster]
A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them
all. --South.
[1913 Webster]
Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until
within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened
nations. --Prescott.
[1913 Webster]
The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle
us. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
Baffling wind (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one
point to another.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Baffling \Baf"fling\ (b[a^]f"fl[i^]ng), a.
Frustrating; discomfiting; disconcerting; as, baffling
currents, winds, tasks. -- Baff"ling*ly, adv. --
Baff"ling*ness, n.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
baffling
adj 1: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve
or believe; "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty
problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic
situation at home" [syn: baffling, elusive, knotty,
problematic, problematical, tough]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
21 Moby Thesaurus words for "baffling":
bewildering, bothering, confounding, confusing, defeating,
discomposing, disconcerting, dismaying, distracting, disturbing,
embarrassing, enigmatic, frustrating, intricate, mysterious,
mystifying, perplexing, perturbing, problematic, puzzling,
upsetting