confusion

n.

1. The act of confusing

   obscuring, blurring, mixing up, upsetting, disturbing, embarrassing, discomfiting, abashing, agitating, addling, fuddling, miscalculation, miscalculating, befuddling, tangling, mixing, cluttering, disarranging, unsettling, dumbfounding, confounding, perplexing, demoralization, stirring up, snarling, embroiling, misconceiving.

   Antonyms straightening, order*, arranging.

2. A confused state

   disorder, disarray, chaos, jumble, mess, muddle, lack of clearness, lack of distinction, mixup, bewilderment, perplexity, puzzlement, disorientation, bafflement, dislocation, anarchy, complication, intricacy, untidiness, complexity, labyrinth, wilderness, discomfiture, embarrassment, abashment, difficulty, mistake, turmoil, tumult, pandemonium, bedlam, commotion, stir, flurry, ferment, imbroglio, convulsion, bustle, trouble, row, riot, uproar, fracas, agitation, discomposure, emotional upset, daze, fog, haze, blur, ambiguity, obscurity, perturbation, mystification, consternation, befuddlement, distraction, stupefaction, racket, din, Babel, hubbub, ado, disarrangement, mismanagement, excitement, flutter, dither, hysteria, disharmony, turbulence, dismay, uncertainty, maze, quandary, clutter, entanglement, tangle, disorganization, breakdown, knot, congestion, tie-up, interference, nervousness, melee, Gordian knot, derangement, snarl, snag, farrago, hodgepodge, mare's-nest, jungle*, to-do*, hurly-burly*, shutdown*, bungle*, botch*, foul-up*, screw-up*, rumpus*, scramble*, shuffle*, stew*, muddle-headedness*, discombobulation*, tizzy*, going round and round*, jam*, fix*, pretty mess*, pretty pickle*, snafu*; see also disorder 2, disturbance 2, embarrassment 1.

   Antonyms quiet*, calm*, order*, comprehension.

confusion suggests an indiscriminate mixing or putting together of things so that it is difficult to distinguish the individual elements or parts the hall was a confusion of languages; disorder and disarray imply a disturbance of the proper order or arrangement of parts the room was in disorder, her clothes were in disarray; chaos implies total and apparently irremediable lack of organization the troops are in a state of chaos; jumble suggests a confused mixture of dissimilar things his drawer was a jumble of clothing and books; muddle implies a snarled confusion resulting from mismanagement or incompetence they've made a muddle of the negotiations

covered with confusion