These are the 10 most confusing words in the English language

When you don't know the meaning of a word, there's one obvious place to turn: the dictionary.

Naturally, some words tend to confuse people more than others, as evidenced by Merriam-Webster's list of the 10 most looked-up words in its online dictionary.

So what are the most sought-after definitions in the English language? Probably not what you expect. You won't find hyper-obscure scientific terms, for example, because not enough people know them to bother looking them up.

Rather, the most looked-up words are ones that are "middle of the road linguistically" - common enough to perpetually perplex readers, as Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper told Business Insider.

Here are the 10 most looked-up words and their definitions: