CONFUSED

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does confused mean? 

• CONFUSED (adjective)
  The adjective CONFUSED has 5 senses:

1. perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment

2. lacking orderly continuity

3. having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity

4. thrown into a state of disarray or confusion

5. mentally confused; unable to think with clarity or act intelligently

  Familiarity information: CONFUSED used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFUSED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment

Synonyms:

at sea; baffled; befuddled; bemused; bewildered; confounded; confused; lost; mazed; mixed-up

Context example:

she felt lost on the first day of school

Similar:

perplexed (full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment)

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lacking orderly continuity

Synonyms:

confused; disconnected; disjointed; disordered; garbled; illogical; scattered; unconnected

Context example:

scattered thoughts

Similar:

incoherent (without logical or meaningful connection)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity

Synonyms:

confused; disoriented; lost

Context example:

the anesthetic left her completely disoriented

Similar:

unoriented (not having position or goal definitely set or ascertained)

Derivation:

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Thrown into a state of disarray or confusion

Synonyms:

broken; confused; disordered; upset

Context example:

with everything so upset

Similar:

disorganised; disorganized (lacking order or methodical arrangement or function)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Mentally confused; unable to think with clarity or act intelligently

Context example:

the flood of questions left her bewildered and confused

Similar:

addlebrained; addlepated; muddleheaded; puddingheaded (stupid and confused)

addled; befuddled; muddled; muzzy; woolly; woolly-headed; wooly; wooly-minded (confused and vague; used especially of thinking)

befogged; befuddled (stupefied by alcoholic drink)

clouded (mentally disordered)

dazed; stunned; stupefied; stupid (in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock)

dazzled (stupefied or dizzied by something overpowering)

trancelike (as if in a trance)

punch-drunk; silly; slaphappy (dazed from or as if from repeated blows)

spaced-out (confused or disoriented as if intoxicated through taking a drug)

Also:

perplexed (full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment)

Antonym:

clearheaded (not mentally confused; able to think clearly and act intelligently)

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

Existing conditions, especially those that would be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured.

(Background, NCI Thesaurus)

If there are times of day that the person is less confused or more cooperative, take advantage of that in daily routines.

(Alzheimer's Caregivers, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

He was confused and blinded by the rush of it and the beat of angry wings.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I was present myself, and I remember to have felt quite uncomfortable and confused, at a part of myself being disposed of in that way.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As the circumstances of my fall came back into my confused brain, I looked up in terror, expecting to see that dreadful head silhouetted against the paling sky.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My eyes were covered and closed: eddying darkness seemed to swim round me, and reflection came in as black and confused a flow.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A mental state in which a person is confused, disoriented, and not able to think or remember clearly.

(Delirium, NCI Dictionary)

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)

Vocabulary used to capture the participants' mood included "a list of mood components such as tense, worn out, energetic, confused and lively," explained Abigail Avolio, first author of the study.

(Mental, Not Physical, Fatigue Affects Seniors' Walking Ability, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

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)