as in confusion
a state of mental uncertainty
poorly worded instructions that must have resulted in a lot of head-scratching
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of head-scratching
Mamdani won the district spanning lower Manhattan and Brooklyn by a wide margin, making the Goldman video spotlighting their alliance particularly head-scratching.
—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2026
Visitors stroll from room to room, surrounded by stained glass and sacred cremains, serving witness to moving and often head-scratching performances.
—
Randy McMullen,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
The failure to analyze or even acknowledge countless comic interpretations of presidents in contexts that lack Lorne Michaels is so thoroughly bizarre that the entire documentary becomes more head-scratching than enlightening.
—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2026
This year’s draft saw Gladstone deliver several head-scratching reaches.
—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for head-scratching
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2026
Visitors stroll from room to room, surrounded by stained glass and sacred cremains, serving witness to moving and often head-scratching performances.
—
Randy McMullen,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
The failure to analyze or even acknowledge countless comic interpretations of presidents in contexts that lack Lorne Michaels is so thoroughly bizarre that the entire documentary becomes more head-scratching than enlightening.
—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 June 2026
This year’s draft saw Gladstone deliver several head-scratching reaches.
—
Mike Jones,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for head-scratching
Recent Examples of Synonyms for head-scratching
Noun
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Mercury stations retrograde in Cancer in your 11th House of Friends and Community, bringing old invitations, group-chat confusion, or unclear expectations back into focus.
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In it, the author described a culture of confusion, stress, and incompetence, as contractors competed for work to be completed under near-impossible deadlines.
Noun
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When Ian Happ made the final out of the frame, the umpires convened and called a delay, a rare stoppage because of the fog-shrouded Wrigley Field.
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Dense fog shrouded the Golden Gate Bridge and masked the city's fireworks display.
Noun
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They’re immediately pulled into a tangle of police reports, hospital notifications, insurance calls, and legal questions that can feel impossible to sort through while grieving.
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Richie Laryea for Canada burst into the box in a good position but was brought to ground amid a tangle of legs with South Africa’s Khuliso Mudau.
Cite this Entry
“Head-scratching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/head-scratching. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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