as in mystery
something hard to understand or explain
why he chose to sink all of his money into a failing business is a real head-scratcher
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Recent Examples of head-scratcher
The jury’s still out on the first head-scratcher.
—
Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 13 Aug. 2025
At the time, the trade was a head-scratcher from the Eagles' side, considering the value Gardner-Johnson brought to the Eagles' defensive backfield.
—Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Aug. 2025
In what began as a head-scratcher for the players themselves, 300 tons of sand were poured into the Intuit Dome, turning the Clippers’ arena into a pop-up beach — where the L.A. Launch kept their perfect run afloat for the start of AVP League Week 5.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2025
The artistic choice of featuring Depp was the sole head-scratcher of the evening — but McCartney’s loyalty to the Pirates of the Caribbean star though his various legal and reputational travails appears to be as solid as Norwegian wood.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for head-scratcher
Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 13 Aug. 2025
At the time, the trade was a head-scratcher from the Eagles' side, considering the value Gardner-Johnson brought to the Eagles' defensive backfield.
—Justin Grasso, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Aug. 2025
In what began as a head-scratcher for the players themselves, 300 tons of sand were poured into the Intuit Dome, turning the Clippers’ arena into a pop-up beach — where the L.A. Launch kept their perfect run afloat for the start of AVP League Week 5.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2025
The artistic choice of featuring Depp was the sole head-scratcher of the evening — but McCartney’s loyalty to the Pirates of the Caribbean star though his various legal and reputational travails appears to be as solid as Norwegian wood.
—Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for head-scratcher
Recent Examples of Synonyms for head-scratcher
mystery
Noun
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Martin, 38, created, co-wrote and stars in Wayward, a Netflix mystery series that follows a local police officer's investigation into a local school for troubled teens in an isolated small town.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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The mystery donor who offered $130 million to pay troops during the government shutdown is Timothy Mellon, sources told The New York Times on Saturday.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Head-scratcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/head-scratcher. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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