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Confusing
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object), -fused, -fus·ing.
1.
to perplex or bewilder: The flood of questions confused me.
2.
to make unclear or indistinct: The rumors and angry charges tended to confuse the issue.
3.
to fail to distinguish between; associate by mistake; confound: to confuse dates; He always confuses the twins.
4.
to disconcert or abash: His candor confused her.
5.
EXPANDto combine without order; jumble; disorder: Try not to confuse the papers on the desk.
6.
COLLAPSEArchaic. to bring to ruin or naught.
Origin:
back formation from confused (since early 19th century), Middle English confused < Anglo-French confus (with -ed -ed2 maintaining participial sense) < Latin confūsus, past participle of confundere; see confound
back formation from confused (since early 19th century), Middle English confused < Anglo-French confus (with -ed -ed2 maintaining participial sense) < Latin confūsus, past participle of confundere; see confound
Related forms
con·fus·a·ble, adjective
con·fus·a·bil·i·ty, noun
con·fus·a·bly, adverb
con·fus·ed·ness, noun
EXPANDpre·con·fuse, verb (used with object), -fused, -fus·ing.
pre·con·fus·ed·ly, adverb
re·con·fuse, verb (used with object), -fused, -fus·ing.
su·per·con·fused, adjective
un·con·fus·a·ble, adjective
un·con·fus·a·b·ly, adverb
un·con·fused, adjective
un·con·fus·ed·ly, adverb
COLLAPSESynonyms
1. mystify, nonplus. 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. 4. mortify, shame. 5. disarray, disarrange, disturb.
1. mystify, nonplus. 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. 4. mortify, shame. 5. disarray, disarrange, disturb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To Confusing
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
confuse
c.1550, in literal sense "mix or mingle things so as to render the elements indistinguishable;" attested from mid-18c. in active, figurative sense of "discomfit in mind or feeling;" not in general use until 19c., taking over senses formerly belonging to confound, dumbfound,
EXPANDflabbergast etc. The pp. confused (q.v.) is attested much earlier (serving as an alternate p.t. to confound), and the verb here might be a back-formation from it. Related: Confusing (1846).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
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