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Synonyms

confusion

American  
[kuhn-fyoo-zhuhn] / kənˈfyu ʒən /

noun

  1. the act of confusing. confusing.

  2. the state of being confused.

    Synonyms:
    distraction

  3. disorder; upheaval; tumult; chaos.

    The army retreated in confusion.
    Synonyms:
    disarray, mess, jumble, turmoil

  4. lack of clearness or distinctness.

    a confusion in his mind between right and wrong.

  5. perplexity; bewilderment.

    The more difficult questions left us in complete confusion.

  6. embarrassment or abashment.

    He blushed in confusion.
    Synonyms:
    mortification, shame

  7. Psychiatry. a disturbed mental state; disorientation.

  8. Archaic. defeat, overthrow, or ruin.

confusion British  
/ kənˈfjuːʒən /

noun

  1. the act of confusing or the state of being confused

  2. disorder; jumble

  3. bewilderment; perplexity

  4. lack of clarity; indistinctness

  5. embarrassment; abashment

"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

  • confusional adjective
  • preconfusion noun
  • reconfusion noun
  • superconfusion noun

Etymology

Origin of confusion

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin confūsiōn-, stem of confūsiō “disorder, mixture,” literally “a mixing,” from confūs(us) “mixed” (past participle of cōnfundere; confound ) + -iō -ion

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.