perplexity
/pəɹˈplɛksəti/noun
perplexity is spelled P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-T-Y: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, perplexity means “The state or quality of being perplexed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of perplexity is perplexities.
How many letters and syllables are in perplexity?
| Letters | 10: P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 80,453rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is perplexity?
Perplexity appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 80,453rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce perplexity?
- UK /pəˈplɛksɪti/
- US /pəɹˈplɛksəti/
Perplexity has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-perplexity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of perplexity
- perplexities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perplexity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state or quality of being perplexed.
- 2
Something that perplexes.
- 3
A measure of the accuracy with which a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perplexity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the state or quality of being perplexed:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | perplexité |
| German | Perplexität |
| Spanish | perplejidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does perplexity come from?
From Middle English perplexite, borrowed from Middle French perplexité or post-classical Latin perplexitās, from perplexus (“entangled”). By surface analysis, perplex + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).