Confuse definition
To mix up mentally.
- To bewilder; perplex.
- To embarrass; disconcert; abash.
- To fail to distinguish between; mistake the identity of.
verb
To confuse is to make someone bewildered or unable to understand, or to mistake one thing for something else.
When you explain something in a way that makes no sense, this is an example of a time when you confuse.
When you make a situation more complicated than it needs to be, this is an example of a time when you confuse a situation.
When you think that a black shirt looks blue, this is an example of a time when you confuse black for blue.
verb
(archaic) To cause to feel embarrassment.
verb
To make more complex or difficult to understand.
verb
To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; bewilder or perplex.
verb
To fail to differentiate (one person or thing) from another.
Confused effusiveness with affection.
verb
To make something unclear or incomprehensible.
A new tax code that only confuses.
verb
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To mix up; jumble together; put into disorder.
verb
Alternative Forms
Alternative Form of confuse -
confuscate
Origin of confuse
- Middle English confusen from Old French confus perplexed from Latin cōnfūsus past participle of cōnfundere to mix together confound
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- Back formation from Middle English confused ("frustrated, ruined"), from Anglo-Norman confus, from Latin confusus, past participle of confundō.
From Wiktionary