verb · informal
mystify
/ˈmɪstɪfaɪ/MYS·ti·fy
Band 5-6speakingtask2
to make someone feel confused or unable to understand something
Examples
“The magician's trick mystified the audience.”
“I was mystified by the sudden change in his behaviour.”
“Some scientific results still mystify researchers.”
Band 8 sentence
“The report included several anomalies that mystified even experienced analysts.”
Collocations
- mystify the audience
- be mystified by
Word family
mystify verbmystified adjectivemystification noun
Common mistakes
I am mystified with the result.→I am mystified by the result.
The explanation mystified to the students.→The explanation mystified the students.
Say it for a higher band
5confuse→6puzzle→7+mystify
Synonyms
confuse
puzzle
Easily confused
confuse
“The sudden change in the schedule confused many participants.”
Related words
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In -ify
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