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con·fuse 
Audio Help [kuhn-fyooz] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [kuhn-fyooz] Pronunciation Key –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. | to combine without order; jumble; disorder: Try not to confuse the papers on the desk. |
| 6. | Archaic. to bring to ruin or naught. |
[Origin: back formation from confused (since early 19th century), ME confused < AF confus (with -ed -ed2 maintaining participial sense) < L confūsus, ptp. 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
—Synonyms 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 (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
confuse
To learn more about confuse visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| con·fuse
Audio Help (kən-fyōōz') Pronunciation Key
v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v. tr.
v. intr. To make something unclear or incomprehensible: a new tax code that only further confuses. [Middle English confusen, from Old French confus, perplexed, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundere, to mix together; see confound.] con·fus'a·ble adj., con·fus'ing·ly adv. Synonyms: These verbs mean to cause to be unclear in mind or intent: heavy traffic that confused the driver; problems that addle my brain; a question that befuddled even the professor; was discombobulated by all of the possibilities; a complex plot line that fuddled my comprehension; a student who was muddled by endless facts and figures; behavior that really threw me. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| confuse | |
verb | |
| 1. | mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary" |
| 2. | be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher" |
| 3. | cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her" |
| 4. | assemble without order or sense; "She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence" [syn: jumble] |
| 5. | make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
confuse1 [kənˈfjuːz] verb
to put in disorder
Example: He confused the arrangements by arriving late.
confuse2 [kənˈfjuːz] verbExample: He confused the arrangements by arriving late.
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to mix up in one's mind
Example: I always confuse John and his twin brother.
confuse3 [kənˈfjuːz] verbExample: I always confuse John and his twin brother.
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to make puzzled
Example: He completely confused me by his questions.
See also: confused, "confuse" in any languageExample: He completely confused me by his questions.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Confuse
Con*found"\ (k[o^]n*found"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Confounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Confounding.] [F. confondre, fr. L. confundere, -fusum, to pour together; con- + fundere to pour. See Fuse to melt, and cf. Confuse.]1. To mingle and blend, so that different elements can not be distinguished; to confuse. They who strip not ideas from the marks men use for them, but confound them with words, must have endless dispute. --Locke. Let us go down, and there confound their language. --Gen. xi. 7. 2. To mistake for another; to identify falsely. They [the tinkers] were generally vagrants and pilferers, and were often confounded with the gypsies. --Macaulay. 3. To throw into confusion or disorder; to perplex; to strike with amazement; to dismay. The gods confound... The Athenians both within and out that wall. --Shak. They trusted in thee and were not confounded. --Ps. xxii. 5. So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood A while as mute, confounded what to say. --Milton. 4. To destroy; to ruin; to waste. [Obs.] One man's lust these many lives confounds. --Shak. How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour? --Shak. Syn: To abash; confuse; baffle; dismay; astonish; defeat; terrify; mix; blend; intermingle. See Abash.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Confuse
Con*fus\, a. [F. See Confuse, a.] Confused, disturbed. [Obs.] --Chaucer.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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