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考研 CET6 IELTS TOEFL TEM8
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》
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.
名著用例
'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）。
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)
