confuse

English

Etymology

Back formation from Middle English confused ("frustrated, ruined"), from Anglo-Norman confus, from Latin confusus, past participle of confundō.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kənˈfjuːz/
• Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

confuse (third-person singular simple present confuses, present participle confusing, simple past and past participle confused)

1. To thoroughly mix; to confound; to disorder.
2. (obsolete) To rout; discomfit.
3. To mix up; to puzzle; to bewilder.
4. To make uneasy and ashamed; to embarrass.
5. To mistake one thing for another.

Synonyms

• flummox
• See also Wikisaurus:confuse

Related terms

• confused
• confusing
• confusion

Translations

to mix thoroughly

Bulgarian: размесвам (bg) Chinese: trad. 攪亂, simpl. 搅乱 (pinyin: jiǎoluàn) Dutch: verwarren (nl), in de war brengen (nl), dooreenhalen (nl) Finnish: sotkea, sekoittaa (täysin / perusteellisesti) German: vermischen (de)

Hungarian: összekever (hu) Norwegian: blande (no) Russian: смешивать (ru) (sméšivat') Scottish Gaelic: cuir tro-chèile (gd) Swedish: blanda (sv)

to rout — see rout

to mix up; to puzzle; to bewilder

Arabic: أربك (ar) ('arbaka) Bulgarian: обърквам (bg), смущавам (bg) Czech: zmást (cs) Danish: forvirre (da) Dutch: verbijsteren (nl) Esperanto: konfuzi (eo) Finnish: sekoittaa, saada ymmälleen, hämätä (fi) French: confondre (fr)

German: verwirren (de), konfuse (de) machen Hebrew: בלבל (he) (bilbel) m. Norwegian: forvirre (no) Portuguese: confundir (pt) Romanian: încurca (ro) Russian: путать (ru) (pútat') Scottish Gaelic: cuir tro-chèile (gd)

to embarrass

Arabic: أربك (ar) ('arbaka) Bulgarian: смущавам (bg) Chinese: 迷惑 (cmn) (míhuo) Danish: bringe en i forlegenhed (da) Finnish: nolata, saattaa / saada hämilleen

German: jemanden in Verlegenheit (de) f. bringen Japanese: 混乱させる (ja) (konran-saseru) Norwegian: Bokmål: bringe noen i forlegenhet (no) m. and f. Russian: смущать (ru) (smuščát')

to mistake one thing for another

Bulgarian: обърквам (bg) Chinese: 混同 (cmn) (hùntóng) Czech: splést, zaměnit Danish: forveksle (da) Dutch: verwarren (nl), in de war brengen (nl), dooreenhalen (nl) Esperanto: konfuzi (eo) Finnish: sekoittaa (fi), erehtyä (fi) French: confondre (fr)

German: verwechseln (de) Hebrew: בלבל (he) (bilbel) m. Hungarian: összekever (hu) Japanese: 混同する (ja) (kondō-suru) Norwegian: forveksle (no) Russian: путать (ru) (pútat') Turkish: karıştırmak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Spanish: confundir Swedish: förvirra

See also

• discombobulate

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Italian

Adjective

confuse pl.

1. feminine form of confuso

Verb

confuse

1. third-person singular past historic of confondere
2. Feminine plural past participle of confondere

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Latin

Participle

cōnfūse

1. vocative masculine singular of cōnfūsus