Synonyms

confound

American

[kon-found, kuhn-, kon-found] / kɒnˈfaʊnd, kən-, ˈkɒnˈfaʊnd /

verb (used with object)

to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse.

The complicated directions confounded him.

Synonyms:

nonplus, daze, dumbfound, astound
to throw into confusion or disorder.

The revolution confounded the people.
to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake.

truth confounded with error.
to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
to damn (used in mild imprecations).

Confound it!
to contradict or refute.

to confound their arguments.
to put to shame; abash.
Archaic.
1. to defeat or overthrow.
2. to bring to ruin or naught.
Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.

confound British

/ kənˈfaʊnd /

verb

to astound or perplex; bewilder
to mix up; confuse
to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it! )
to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
to rout or defeat (an enemy)
obsolete to waste

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

confoundable adjective
confounder noun
interconfound verb (used with object)
preconfound verb (used with object)
unconfound verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of confound

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conf(o)unden, from Anglo-French confoundre, from Latin confundere “to mix,” equivalent to con- con- + fundere “to pour”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023