perplex
基本释义
[verb] make (someone) feel completely baffled
[动词] 使（某人）感到完全困惑
深入解读
Perplex 是一个与熟词 complex （复杂的、难懂的、费解的）结尾和词根相同的单词，由前缀 per- （贯穿、自始至终）+ 词根 plex （重叠、折叠）构成。该词源自拉丁语 perplexus （错综复杂的、复杂难解的、困惑的），14世纪末先是进入英语作形容词表示“困惑的、迷惑不解的”，不过这个含义后来主要由其变体 perplexed 表示。
等到了16世纪90年代后，又从 perplexed 逆构出动词 perplex 表示“迷惑、使困惑、使茫然”以及“使担忧、使担心”，多指在决定行动方案或个人问题的正确解决方案时，感到担忧焦虑并缺乏把握，无从下手处理，比如：
- 她松懈的反应令他们困惑不解。
They were perplexed by her lax response. - 这犟孩子弄得他父母不知怎么办才好。
The restive child perplexed his parents.
好书例句
‘Oh! don’t, Miss Catherine!’ I cried. ‘We’re dismal enough without conjuring up ghosts and visions to perplex us. Come, come, be merry and like yourself! Look at little Hareton! HE’S dreaming nothing dreary. How sweetly he smiles in his sleep!’
“啊，别说啦，凯瑟琳小姐！”我叫着，“用不着招神现鬼来缠我们，我们已够惨的啦。来，来，高兴起来，像你本来的样子！看看小哈里顿——他梦中想不到什么伤心事。他在睡眠中笑得多甜啊！”
出自英国女作家艾米莉·勃朗特（Emily Brontë）的小说《呼啸山庄》（Wuthering Heights）。
外刊例句
- But “Hunger” is also highly idiosyncratic—a peculiar, often perplexing tour through some of the world’s most desperate places, interspersed with muddled ranting.
但《饥饿》也极为特立独行——它穿行于世界上一些生存条件最恶劣的地方，过程离奇古怪，常常令人困惑，还夹杂着混乱的怒骂。
——《经济学人》 - The poor health of children in India, even after decades of robust economic growth, is one of the world’s most perplexing public health questions.|
尽管数十年来经济增长强劲，但印度儿童的健康状况仍然不佳，这是世界上最令人困惑的公共卫生问题之一。
——《纽约时报》
常见短语
以下是一些包含动词”perplex”（使困惑、迷惑）的常用短语：
- Be perplexed: 困惑。例如：I am perplexed by his sudden change of behavior.（他突然改变行为让我感到困惑。）
- Become perplexed: 变得困惑。例如：She became perplexed when she couldn’t find her keys.（当她找不到钥匙时，她变得困惑。）
- Feel perplexed: 感到困惑。例如：I feel perplexed by the complexity of the problem.（我对问题的复杂性感到困惑。）
- Perplexed expression: 困惑的表情。例如：He had a perplexed expression on his face when he heard the news.（当他听到这个消息时，脸上露出了困惑的表情。）
- Perplexed look: 困惑的神情。例如：She gave me a perplexed look when I asked her a difficult question.（当我问她一个困难的问题时，她对我投以困惑的目光。）
- Perplexed by something: 对某事感到困惑。例如：He was perplexed by the conflicting information he received.（他对他收到的矛盾信息感到困惑。）
- Perplexed about something: 对某事感到困惑。例如：I’m still perplexed about what happened yesterday.（我对昨天发生的事情仍然感到困惑。）
- Perplexed by the puzzle/mystery: 困惑于这个谜题/谜团。例如：The detective was perplexed by the unsolved mystery.（这位侦探对这个未解之谜感到困惑。）
- Perplexed by the question: 对这个问题感到困惑。例如：I was perplexed by the difficult question on the exam.（我对考试上的难题感到困惑。）
- Perplexed by the situation: 对这种情况感到困惑。例如：She was perplexed by the complicated situation at work.（她对工作中的复杂情况感到困惑。）
- Perplexed and bewildered: 困惑和困惑不解。例如：He stood there, perplexed and bewildered by what he had just witnessed.（他站在那里，对他刚刚目睹的事情感到困惑和困惑不解。）
- Perplexed mind: 困惑的心境。例如：She couldn’t focus on her work due to her perplexed mind.（由于困惑的心境，她无法专注于工作。）
同近义词
puzzle: cause (someone) to feel confused because they cannot understand something
baffle: totally bewilder or perplex
mystify: utterly bewilder or perplex (someone)
