as in mystery
something hard to understand or explain
the conundrum of how an ancient people were able to build such massive structures without the benefit of today's knowledge and technology
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Recent Examples of conundrum
Your questions and comments, as well as gardening conundrums and successes, are always welcome.
—
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025
This, in fact, would be the basis of Aburn's design conundrum.
—Roxanne Robinson, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Still, the persistence in prices combined with weakness in the labor market presents a stagflationary conundrum for the Fed.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025
Meanwhile, many people in my cohort of 10- and 20-year attendees are facing a conundrum similar to mine; lots of those Reddit threads on reunions are focused on the question of whether to attend in the first place.
—Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conundrum
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025
This, in fact, would be the basis of Aburn's design conundrum.
—Roxanne Robinson, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Still, the persistence in prices combined with weakness in the labor market presents a stagflationary conundrum for the Fed.
—Jeff Cox, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2025
Meanwhile, many people in my cohort of 10- and 20-year attendees are facing a conundrum similar to mine; lots of those Reddit threads on reunions are focused on the question of whether to attend in the first place.
—Jordan Michelman, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for conundrum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conundrum
Noun
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Some scholars countered that Venusian volcanoes could have produced phosphine; others said that the measurements were dubious, and the mystery gas wasn’t phosphine.—
David W. Brown,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025
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The music feels like a murder mystery caper, propelled by urgency yet never losing its lightness.—
Sheila Regan,
Twin Cities,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Over time, the fate of the footage has become one of the biggest enigmas in Hollywood history.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
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More Michael Owens/Getty Images Leonard has always been regarded as an enigma because of his chronic injury problems and his extremely introverted (and some would say odd) personality.—
Robert Marvi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Conundrum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conundrum. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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