这些动词均有“使困惑、迷惑、糊涂、伤脑筋”之意。
puzzle : 侧重使人难于理解、困惑、伤脑筋。
- What puzzles me is why he left the country without telling anyone.
令我不解的是，他为什么悄悄地离开了这个国家。
bewilder : 语气强烈，指因迷不解或惊愕而慌乱，不知所措，无法清醒地思考。
- She was totally bewildered by his sudden change of mood.
他的情绪突变搞得她全然不知所措。
confuse : 语气较弱，指由于混淆、混乱而糊涂。
- They confused me with conflicting accounts of what happened.
他们对发生的事所作的陈述自相矛盾，使我迷惑不解。
embarrass : 常指因处境或困难问题而感到窘迫、局促不安或焦急而不知所措。
- Her questions about my private life embarrassed me.
她询问我的私生活使我感到很尴尬。 - The speech was deliberately designed to embarrass the prime minister.
这个发言是故意为难首相。
perplex : 除困惑外，还含焦虑或缺乏把握之意，因而难于作出决定，无从下手处理。
- They were perplexed by her response.
她的答复令他们困惑不解。 - It perplexed him because he was tackling it the wrong way.
由于处理不当，这个问题令他大伤脑筋。
baffle : 语气最强，多指遇见奇怪情景或复杂困难情况时所产生的惶恐困惑心理。
- An apple tree producing square fruit is baffling experts.
一棵结方形苹果的树令专家大惑不解。
confound : 常指人惊慌失措和狼狈不堪。
- The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists.
股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
distract : 主要用于注意力分散、思想矛盾或过分激动时产生的昏乱。
- Tom admits that playing video games sometimes distracts him from his homework.
汤姆承认玩电子游戏有时会使他无心做作业。 - distracting thoughts
令人分心的想法 - a distracting noise
使人心烦意乱的嘈杂声
