confuse
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to perplex or bewilder.
The flood of questions confused me.
-
to make unclear or indistinct.
The rumors and angry charges tended to confuse the issue.
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to fail to distinguish between; associate by mistake; confound.
to confuse dates;
He always confuses the twins.
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to disconcert or abash.
His candor confused her.
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to combine without order; jumble; disorder.
Try not to confuse the papers on the desk.
- Synonyms:
- disturb, disarrange, disarray
-
Archaic. to bring to ruin or naught.
verb
-
to bewilder; perplex
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to mix up (things, ideas, etc); jumble
-
to make unclear
he confused his talk with irrelevant details
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to fail to recognize the difference between; mistake (one thing) for another
-
to disconcert; embarrass
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to cause to become disordered
the enemy ranks were confused by gas
Related Words
Confuse, disconcert, embarrass imply temporary interference with the clear working of one's mind. To confuse is to produce a general bewilderment: to confuse someone by giving complicated directions. To disconcert is to disturb one's mind by irritation, perplexities, etc.: to disconcert someone by asking irrelevant questions. To embarrass is to cause one to be ill at ease or uncomfortable, so that one's usual judgment and presence of mind desert one: to embarrass someone by unexpected rudeness.
Other Word Forms
- confusability noun
- confusable adjective
- confusably adverb
- preconfuse verb (used with object)
- reconfuse verb (used with object)
- unconfusable adjective
- unconfusably adverb
Etymology
Origin of confuse
First recorded in 1300–50; from Old French confus “perplexed,” from Latin confūsus “mixed, poured,” past participle of confundere; see confound
Explanation
If you confuse two things, you are not correctly identifying them. If you confuse heartburn with a heart attack, you might end up at the emergency room instead of in the antacid aisle of the drugstore. To confuse can also mean to bewilder. If you tell a teacher that she's confusing you, you probably mean that she's being more complex than you can handle. A lot of people get confused by the differences among "their," "they're," and "there." To confuse the situation even further, there's "theirs" and "there's."
Vocabulary lists containing confuse
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
People who confuse reasonable limitations on their actions with violations of their rights develop a sense of entitlement and inevitable disappointment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
Shadows may confuse the system about a block's shape, or the robot may place pieces incorrectly, causing the structure to collapse.
From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026
In Season 19 of “America’s Got Talent,” the comedian won over audiences by joking about how American movies about Africa often confuse Africans, asking, “Why do the lions have American accents?”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026
“The buy side frequently reminds us to ‘never confuse a momentum unwind day with a real bid in software,’” wrote Jeffrey Favuzza, a trading-desk analyst with Jefferies, in a note to clients.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026
They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into wars, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
