CONFUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does confuse mean? 

• CONFUSE (verb)
  The verb CONFUSE has 5 senses:

1. mistake one thing for another

2. be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

3. cause to feel embarrassment

4. assemble without order or sense

5. make unclear, indistinct, or blurred

  Familiarity information: CONFUSE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFUSE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they confuse    ... he / she / it confuses   
Past simple: confused   
Past participle: confused   
-ing form: confusing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mistake one thing for another

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

confound; confuse

Context example:

I mistook her for the secretary

Hypernyms (to "confuse" is one way to...):

misidentify; mistake (identify incorrectly)

Verb group:

blur; confuse; obnubilate; obscure (make unclear, indistinct, or blurred)

confuse; jumble; mix up (assemble without order or sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

confusion (a mistake that results from taking one thing to be another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw

Context example:

This question befuddled even the teacher

Hypernyms (to "confuse" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Verb group:

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off (cause to feel embarrassment)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confuse"):

demoralize (confuse or put into disorder)

amaze; baffle; beat; bewilder; dumbfound; flummox; get; gravel; mystify; nonplus; perplex; pose; puzzle; stick; stupefy; vex (be a mystery or bewildering to)

disorient; disorientate (cause to be lost or disoriented)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

confusion (a mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behavior)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to feel embarrassment

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off

Context example:

The constant attention of the young man confused her

Hypernyms (to "confuse" is one way to...):

abash; embarrass (cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious)

Verb group:

bedevil; befuddle; confound; confuse; discombobulate; fox; fuddle; throw (be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confuse"):

fluster (cause to be nervous or upset)

bother (make confused or perplexed or puzzled)

deflect; distract (draw someone's attention away from something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

The bad news will confuse him
The good news will confuse her
The performance is likely to confuse Sue

Derivation:

confusion (a feeling of embarrassment that leaves you confused)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Assemble without order or sense

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

confuse; jumble; mix up

Context example:

She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence

Hypernyms (to "confuse" is one way to...):

assemble; piece; put together; set up; tack; tack together (create by putting components or members together)

Verb group:

confound; confuse (mistake one thing for another)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confuse"):

addle; muddle; puddle (mix up or confuse)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

confusion (an act causing a disorderly combination of elements with identities lost and distinctions blended)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make unclear, indistinct, or blurred

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

blur; confuse; obnubilate; obscure

Context example:

Their words obnubilate their intentions

Hypernyms (to "confuse" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

confound; confuse (mistake one thing for another)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confuse"):

muddy (cause to become muddy)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

Our fair client seemed a little confused.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have a confused memory, too, of having been lifted and conveyed somewhere.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was confused, painfully conscious of his inarticulateness.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

If you are going away, double-check your accommodations because Neptune will be manufacturing his fog, which is pretty but ultimately confusing to you plans.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I heard a confused noise about me; but in the posture I lay, could see nothing except the sky.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I was incapable of speaking, my mind was too confused.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I suppose the opening prospect confused me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I must not confuse them with experiences which will have to rest on my own observation, or my memory of them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This was sufficient to fling the whole pack forward, pell-mell, crowded together, blocked and confused by its eagerness to pull down the prey.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Essentially the cells become confused and begin pushing out essential inner components rather than waste, leading to a loss of function and ultimately their death.

(New Mechanisms Found of Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)