Library / English Dictionary

CONFUSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mistake one thing for another

Example:

I mistook her for the secretary

Synonyms:

confound; confuse

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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:

Make unclear, indistinct, or blurred

Example:

Their words obnubilate their intentions

Synonyms:

blur; confuse; obnubilate; obscure

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Example:

This question befuddled even the teacher

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

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 4

Meaning:

Assemble without order or sense

Example:

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

Synonyms:

confuse; jumble; mix up

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

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:

Cause to feel embarrassment

Example:

The constant attention of the young man confused her

Synonyms:

confuse; disconcert; flurry; put off

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Family of phosphorylated nonhistone nucleoproteins involved in mitosis; do not confuse with LAMININ, which is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein.

(Lamin, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Do not confuse with EC 1.1.2.3, EC 1.1.2.4, or EC 1.1.2.5, lactate dehydrogenase (cytochrome).

(Lactate dehydrogenase, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Testicular peptide hormone which inhibits pituitary secretion of FSH; same name has been used for a TUMOR SUPPRESSOR PROTEIN, do not confuse.

(Inhibin, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Do not confuse with Merkel's corpuscle which is a combination of a neuron and and epidermal cell.

(Murine Merkel Cells, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In the past, port wine stains have frequently been termed capillary hemangiomas, which they are not; unfortunately this confusing practice persists: HEMANGIOMA, CAPILLARY is neoplastic, a port-wine stain is non-neoplastic.

(Nevus Flammeus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Pseudogout has similar symptoms and is sometimes confused with gout.

(Gout, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

It is often confused with uveitis and endophthalmitis, resulting in delayed diagnosis of the malignancy.

(Diffuse Retinoblastoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Scientists from the University of Bristol and UC Davis say zebras may have gotten their stripes to confuse ectoparasites, such as flies.

(Zebra stripes may 'dazzle' pathogen-packing horse flies, Wikinews)

Unnatural light can confuse or expose wildlifeoffsite link like insects, birds and sea turtlesoffsite link, often with fatal consequences.

(Milky Way now hidden from a third of humanity, NOAA)