confusing

[ kuhn-fyoo-zing ]

adjective

1. causing or tending to cause confusion:

   a confusing attempt at explanation.

Other Words From

• con·fusing·ly adverb
• con·fusing·ness noun
• uncon·fusing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confusing¹

First recorded in 1840–50; confuse + -ing ²

Example Sentences

A report to the Los Angeles Police Commission found a confusing breakdown in coordinating actions among UCLA, the LAPD, California Highway Patrol and smaller municipal police agencies that were hastily called to campus in the spring.

From Los Angeles Times

“You feel very out of control of your health and I think it’s really confusing when it comes, not from a cancer diagnosis, because I had in all respects a healthy body,” she said.

From BBC

T-levels were designed to streamline this landscape, and make post-16 options less confusing for students and employers.

From BBC

Also shining a light is Úrsula Corberó as Nuria, the series’ nicest, sanest, least compromised person, whose entire character has for no good reason been declared a spoiler, even though she’s essential to clarifying and/or confusing the issue of how bad or good the Jackal really is.

From Los Angeles Times

It is a confusing time to be a Democrat.

From Slate

Related Words

• baffling
• bewildering
• complex
• complicated
• confounding
• difficult
• disconcerting
• perplexing
• upsetting