confuse

Study(12)

/kənˈfjuːz/

verb 5adj 1

Collocations

(verb.) make sb unable to think clearly; make sth unclear

ADV

completely, totally

Your instructions were so unclear that they completely confused most of the students in class.

slightly, somewhat

further

The complicated explanation just further confused the students in the classroom.

(verb.) mistake sb/sth for another person/thing

ADV

easily

The new software easily confuses most of our older employees who are not familiar with technology.

PREP

with

I often confuse the salt with the sugar when I'm baking in a hurry.

Definitions

verb

to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand

It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.

"What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew about it," said Zhang, a 26-year-old government employee from Shandong.

To mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another).

People who say "hola" to Italians are confusing Italian with Spanish.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned Donald Trump’s mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when talking about the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. […] “They’re saying he got confused. That he was talking about something else. That he was talking about Nancy Pelosi. He mentioned me multiples times in that scenario,” the former South Carolina governor added.

To mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder.

The dense fog utterly confused traffic on the highway.

To make uneasy and ashamed; to embarrass.

To rout; discomfit.

adj

Synonym of confused.

Moꝛe ouer take away oꝛdre from all thynges / what ſhulde than remayne? certes nothynge finally / except ſome man wolde imagine eftſones / Chaos: whiche of ſome is expounde a cõfuse mixture: […]

The 11. article is ſo confuſe that it is harde to bring it into any certeine numbre of demandes.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

verb — mistake one thing for another

confound

verb — make unclear, indistinct, or blurred

verb — be confusing or perplexing to

verb — assemble without order or sense

jumble

verb — cause to feel embarrassment

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.

Wiktionary

"What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew about it," said Zhang, a 26-year-old government employee from Shandong.

Wiktionary

President Donald Trump’s offer to most federal employees to resign now and be paid through September stunned the workers who received it – angering some, confusing many and raising questions about whe

Wiktionary

The 11. article is ſo confuſe that it is harde to bring it into any certeine numbre of demandes.

Wiktionary

[T]he moſt laudable languages are alwaies moſt plaine and diſtinct, and the barbarous moſt confuſe and indiſtinct: […]

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, confuse is marked as dated, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.

Your note

not saved

0 chars