different between perplex vs retard

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin perplexus (“entangled, confused”), from per (“through”) + plexus, perfect passive participle of plect? (“plait, weave, braid”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: p?rpl?ks?, IPA^(key): /p??pl?ks/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: p?pl?ks?, IPA^(key): /p??pl?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Verb

perplex (third-person singular simple present perplexes, present participle perplexing, simple past and past participle perplexed)

1. (transitive) To cause to feel baffled; to puzzle.
2. (transitive) To involve; to entangle; to make intricate or complicated.

   • What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To plague; to vex; to torment.
   • 1726, George Granville, Chloe

     Chloe's the wonder of her sex, 'Tis well her heart is tender, How might such killing eyes perplex, With virtue to defend her.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:confuse

Related terms

• perplexable
• perplexation
• perplexed
• perplexedness
• perplexing
• perplexity
• perplexment

Translations

Adjective

perplex (comparative more perplex, superlative most perplex)

1. (obsolete) intricate; difficult
   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica

     How the soul directs the spirits for the motion of the body, according to the several animal exigents, is as perplex in the Theory, as either of the former.

Noun

perplex (plural perplexes)

1. (obsolete) A difficulty.

Further reading

• perplex in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• perplex in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• perplex at OneLook Dictionary Search

German

Etymology

From French perplexe, from Latin perplexus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p???pl?ks/
• Hyphenation: per?plex

Adjective

perplex (comparative perplexer, superlative am perplexesten)

1. (colloquial, rarely attributive) confused, perplexed, puzzled

   Synonyms: verdutzt, verblüfft, verwirrt

Declension

Related terms

• Perplexität

Further reading

• “perplex” in Duden online
• “perplex” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “perplex” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

Romanian

Etymology

From French perplexe, from Latin perplex.

Adjective

perplex m or n (feminine singular perplex?, masculine plural perplec?i, feminine and neuter plural perplexe)

1. perplexed

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English retarden, from Anglo-Norman or Latin, from Anglo-Norman retarder, from Latin retard?re (“to retard”), from re- + tardus (“slow”).

Pronunciation

Noun (delay sense), verb

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /???t??(?)d/
• Rhymes: -??(?)d

Noun (offensive slang sense)

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??i?t??(?)d/

Noun

retard (plural retards)

1. Retardation; delay.

   Synonyms: delay, hold-up, retardation

2. (music) A slowing down of the tempo; a ritardando.
3. (offensive, dated) A person with mental retardation.

   Synonyms: retarded, (offensive) tard, (disused medical term) imbecile, (legal term) mental deficient, (disused medical term) moron

4. (informal, offensive) A person or being who is extremely stupid or slow to learn.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool

   • 2007, Doug Green, No Wife No Kids No Plan (?ISBN):

     “That's 'cause your dog is a retard,” the large woman retorted. The pit bull must have sensed the insult because it got up on all fours and started barking at the woman. Not one to back down from an interspecies fight, the prison lady stood up […]

Usage notes

Through the euphemism treadmill, the term retard (which originated as a neutral substitute for the terms that had previously designated those with disabilities, namely idiot, imbecile, and moron) has come to be considered offensive; see Wikipedia for more. In a 2003 survey by the BBC, retard was voted the most offensive word relating to disability, followed by spastic.

Derived terms

• -tard

Translations

Verb

retard (third-person singular simple present retards, present participle retarding, simple past and past participle retarded)

1. (transitive) To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progress

   Synonyms: impede, hinder, hold up

2. (transitive) To put off; to postpone.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To be slow or dilatory to perform (something).
4. (intransitive) To decelerate; to slow down.
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To stay back.

Synonyms

• (keep delaying; continue to hinder): decelerate, hinder, slow, slow down; See also Thesaurus:hinder
• (postpone): postpone, put off; See also Thesaurus:procrastinate
• (slow to perform): reluctant
• (decelerate): decelerate, slow, slow down, slow up
• (stay back): hang back, stay back; See also Thesaurus:tarry

Antonyms

• (keep delaying; continue to hinder): accelerate, speed, speed up
• (postpone):
• (stay back): come forward

Derived terms

• retarded

Translations

References

• IQ Basics, including formerly used medical terms for people with very low IQs

Anagrams

• Darter, R-rated, Trader, darter, dartre, retrad, tarred, trader

Catalan

Etymology

From retardar.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /r??ta?t/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /r??tart/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /re?ta?t/

Noun

retard m (plural retards)

1. delay

   Synonyms: demora, endarreriment

Further reading

• “retard” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “retard” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “retard” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.

French

Etymology

From the verb retarder.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.ta?/

Noun

retard m (plural retards)

1. delay

Derived terms

• avoir un train de retard
• en retard
• prendre du retard

Further reading

• “retard” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• tarder, trader

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French retard (“delay”), from the verb retarder (“to retard, slow down”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r??t??r/
• Rhymes: -??r
• Hyphenation: ret?ard
• Homophones: R, r

Noun

retard m (definite singular retarden, indefinite plural retarder, definite plural retardene)

1. (horology) side in a clockwork to which the adjustment indicator must be set to make the clock go slower

   Synonyms: R, r

Antonyms

• avance

References

• “retard” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Anagrams

• darret, radert, trader