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
Denver’s late fourth-quarter play-call was the most obvious head-scratcher of any decision against the Titans, as Nix dropped back and fired off an incomplete go-ball to Marvin Mims on a fourth-and-eight with a minute left.
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Luca Evans, Denver Post, 10 Sep. 2025
Figuring out how to get rid of dandruff can be a real head-scratcher.
—Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025
The jury’s still out on the first head-scratcher.
—Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 13 Aug. 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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The Sheep Detectives in theaters, May 8 Yes, the detectives are literally sheep, who are moved to solve the mystery of their shepherd’s (Hugh Jackman) murder.—
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The biggest mystery of the 2025 San Francisco 49ers has been why Sigle was not able to see the field in the second half of the year.—
Cite this Entry
“Head-scratcher.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/head-scratcher. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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