How to Use head-scratching in a Sentence

head-scratching

1 of 2 noun
  • Yet that hardly accounts for the bulk of the head-scratching cases.
    — USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Yes, Bo Nix had a head-scratching pick on Denver’s first drive.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 26 Oct. 2025
  • The Giants had their share of head-scratching moments during the game.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 2 Dec. 2025
  • There were not any overtly head-scratching decisions or play calls, just a lot that backfired.
    — Matt Cohen | [email protected], al, 10 Sep. 2023
  • The circumstances of their struggle made this a head-scratching mystery as much as a standard-fare loss.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Costly engines There are other head-scratching issues raised by the report.
    — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 25 May 2023
  • But none of it yielded real concern or head-scratching decisions, either.
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
  • In some kind of head-scratching botanical magic trick, these sponges come from long, thin gourds of the cucumber family.
    — Melissa Breyer, Treehugger, 29 Aug. 2023
  • At Florida, the former Gainesville high school star was as apt to make a highlight-reel play as a head-scratching one.
    — Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2023
  • The head-scratching announcement of a plan to have a plan comes as pressure mounts on Democrats over the looming fiscal crisis.
    — Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
  • Here’s our rundown of all the highs, lows, and head-scratching choices from this year’s Grammy nominations.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Beyoncé's wax figure is the latest in a long line of head-scratching celebrity likenesses.
    — Lauren Huff, EW.com, 8 Feb. 2024
  • This really gets back to the head-scratching performance of Miami’s offense in big games this season.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024
  • Years ago, the company imposed a tape delay on West Coast viewers, a head-scratching choice for a world with social media.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2023
  • This year’s draft saw Gladstone deliver several head-scratching reaches.
    — Mike Jones, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
  • This new spot off Hillcroft served a decent version — except for the head-scratching addition of broccoli, the broth was clear and savory with a meaty bone-in short rib.
    — Restaurant Critic, Houston Chronicle, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Against that backdrop, Musk’s Twitter has made several head-scratching announcements this month, some of which might only add to its challenges.
    — Clare Duffy, CNN, 10 Apr. 2023
  • 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
  • Visitors stroll from room to room, surrounded by stained glass and sacred cremains, serving witness to moving and often head-scratching performances.
    — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 17 June 2026
  • That desperation to find an identity shows most in the Warriors’ sometimes head-scratching rotation pattern.
    — Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 5 Jan. 2024
  • Still, the music continues to override any of the head-scratching behaviors Future, Metro Boomin, and all of their friends engage in.
    — Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2024
  • Athleisure giant Lululemon offers a head-scratching version in a sweat-wicking fabric better suited to gym clothes.
    — Ashley Ogawa Clarke, wsj.com, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Were his various entertainment properties exercises in camp or earnest to an almost head-scratching extreme?
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 July 2023
  • A number of social media posts from defense contractors have doled out some head-scratching clues that could hint at previously unacknowledged aircraft—or aircraft to come.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
  • The dysfunctional and unreliable offense featured plenty of head-scratching play calls and three-and-out drives, often letting down the high-performing defense.
    — Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 8 July 2023
  • But as even Theory himself indicated, that one seemingly head-scratching decision may have been a massive blessing in disguise.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Bitcoin has touched its highest level since May 2022 in a head-scratching rally that follows a summer of low volatility and trading volumes.
    — WSJ, 30 Oct. 2023
  • Yet beyond the inevitable tween-behaving-stupidly moments, there are head-scratching sequences, like a snowmobile chase that appears to have parachuted in from a James Bond movie.
    — Brian Lowry, CNN, 12 May 2023
  • The long-running quiz competition show has aired since 1964, providing generations of families with head-scratching trivia for decades.
    — Milan Polk, Men's Health, 9 May 2023
  • The head-scratching rally in VinFast Auto shares came to a sudden halt on Tuesday, erasing $83 billion of market value.
    — John Cheng, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2023

head-scratching

2 of 2 adjective
  • Some of the play calling was head-scratching.
    — Colton Pouncy, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
  • But even that only score was shrouded in a bit of head-scratching.
    — Miami Herald, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Nope, no head-scratching needed.
    — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Nope, no head-scratching needed.
    — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Woolen offers hard-to-find tools mixed with head-scratching lapses.
    — Zach Berman, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
  • This spurs serious head-scratching, that’s for sure.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026
  • The head-scratching only begins there.
    — Chris Bumbaca, USA Today, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Yes, Bo Nix had a head-scratching pick on Denver’s first drive.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 26 Oct. 2025
  • This kicks off a lengthy discourse about favorite fishing holes, epic hatches, and the head-scratching days where the fish seem to win.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 July 2026
  • Their choice to sign Cousins, however, ended up being much more head-scratching.
    — Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
  • Brown isn’t free of blame for Towns’ head-scratching season, and neither are Towns’ teammates.
    — James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Which is what made Tuesday’s Play-In performance so head-scratching.
    — Doug Haller, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2026
  • While teams have to make some tough calls for talented players, the Pittsburgh Steelers just made a head-scratching cut.
    — James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Counsell's postgame comments made his lineup decision Thursday even more head-scratching.
    — Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
  • McCarthy, to this point, is a mobile quarterback capable of high-end flashes along with head-scratching misses.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2025
  • The short-sightedness of disadvantaging our nearby non-city residents is head-scratching.
    — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
  • And as head-scratching as this year as been for a franchise that’s played in five of the past six Super Bowls, Jones sees one more opportunity to clean up mistakes.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The arc of the season sputters between big and little problems in a haphazard manner, with strange side quests for Simon and Trevor that are more head-scratching than adventurous.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 27 Jan. 2026
  • In February, the normally intuitive Dallas Mavericks front office went through a mini-run of head-scratching moves.
    — Mat Issa, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • This extends well beyond the 2025 Bombers, their signature head-scratching and somewhat brainless play on the field has plagued them dating back to 2021.
    — James O'Connell, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The infielder was mocked on social media after a head-scratching baserunning blunder against his former team, the Miami Marlins, in August.
    — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 6 Mar. 2026
  • At 41 years old and with no previous experience in broadcast journalism, Weiss became an object of head-scratching, criticism and anxiety.
    — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Of course, there were the Saints, whom the Patriots beat 25-19, but there were also the officials, who made some head-scratching calls against Mike Vrabel’s squad.
    — Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 13 Oct. 2025
  • For Claire, however, the tale of her mother’s illness takes a backseat in a head-scratching ways, despite the movie affording Jones the fascinating conundrum of trying to conquer death itself.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
  • By Nadia Lathan, CalMatters Fridge-less apartments dotting the pricey California rental market will soon be a head-scratching relic.
    — Calmatters, Mercury News, 30 Dec. 2025
  • By Nadia Lathan | CalMatters Fridge-less apartments dotting the pricey California rental market will soon be a head-scratching relic.
    — Calmatters, Oc Register, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Because the Patriots would go on to score 42 consecutive points before a meaningless touchdown drive by the Panthers in the final minutes, Canales’ head-scratching call the play before Jones’ return has drawn scrutiny.
    — Joseph Person, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • When Jean-Luc Picard was appointed captain of the USS Enterprise-D in 1987, there was a lot of head-scratching among followers of Starfleet.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Matchweek eight saw the Premier League’s 20 teams create 55 big chances, the highest of the season — yet, those opportunities brought multiple head-scratching misses, including a couple with game-state-altering potential.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Lil Wayne’s Ruoff stop on his Tha Carter VI tour — which runs until early October and includes stops in 36 North American cities — was a yo-yo of a thing, with thrilling highs and head-scratching lows.
    — Heather Bushman, IndyStar, 18 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'head-scratching.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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