Abstract: As a globally important food crop, the stable production of maize is often threatened by abiotic stresses such as drought, waterlogging, extreme temperatures, and nutrient deficiency. In recent years, the research paradigm in crop stress resistance biology has undergone a fundamental transformation, evolving from phenotypic and physio-biochemical observations to the characterization of genetic loci and molecular mechanisms, and finally propelling it into the system-level analysis of regulatory networks through the integration of multi-omics technologies. This article systematically reviews the adaptive molecular mechanisms of maize in response to these abiotic stresses, focusing on the complex network of physiological and biochemical responses at multiple levels, including root system architecture remodeling, stomatal regulation, hormone signaling transduction, antioxidant defense, and metabolic reprogramming. At the molecular regulatory level, numerous key genes and core regulatory networks have been identified. For instance, in drought response, ZmVPP1, ZmICEb, and the ABA signaling pathway; in waterlogging adaptation, the ERF transcriptional regulatory network formed by ZmEREB180 and ZmEREB179 in low-temperature stress, the pathway centered on ZmDREB1 and finely regulated by light signals, calcium signals, and phosphorylation cascades; and in nutrient stress, regulatory networks involving the ZmNLP family, the SPX-PHR pathway, and non-coding RNAs (e.g., PILNCR2). These findings reveal that maize adaptation is inherently controlled by the coordination of multiple genes and pathways. Looking ahead, strategies such as multi-omics integration, analysis of combined stress mechanisms, and molecular design breeding will facilitate the effective aggregation of key stress-resistance genes to cultivate maize varieties with high yield, superior quality, and broad adaptability.