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Puzzling vs Surprising - What's the difference?

puzzling | surprising |

As verbs the difference between puzzling and surprising

is that puzzling is while surprising is .

As adjectives the difference between puzzling and surprising

is that puzzling is difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing while surprising is that is or are a surprise.

As nouns the difference between puzzling and surprising

is that puzzling is time spent pondering something confusing while surprising is the action of the verb to surprise .

puzzling

English

Verb

(head)
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Difficult to understand or explain; enigmatic or confusing; perplexing.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Time spent pondering something confusing.
  • surprising

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • Noun

    (s)
  • The action of the verb to surprise .
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • That is or are a surprise.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 3, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke , passage=With this the second of three games in seven days for Stoke, it was hardly surprising to see nine changes from the side that started against Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.}}

    Synonyms

    * astonishing, unexpected See