confuse

/kənˈfjuz/

/kənˈfjuz/

Other forms: confused; confusing; confuses

If you confuse two things, you are not correctly identifying them. If you confuse heartburn with a heart attack, you might end up at the emergency room instead of in the antacid aisle of the drugstore.

To confuse can also mean to bewilder. If you tell a teacher that she's confusing you, you probably mean that she's being more complex than you can handle. A lot of people get confused by the differences among "their," "they're," and "there." To confuse the situation even further, there's "theirs" and "there's."

Definitions of confuse

1. verb

   mistake one thing for another
   “you are confusing me with the other candidate”

   synonyms: conflate, confound

   blur, obnubilate, obscure

   make unclear, indistinct, or blurred

   jumble, mix up

   assemble without order or sense

   type of:

   misidentify, mistake

   identify incorrectly
2. verb

   make unclear, indistinct, or blurred
   “Her remarks confused the debate”

   synonyms: blur, obnubilate, obscure

   conflate, confound

   mistake one thing for another

   types:

   muddy

   cause to become muddy

   type of:

   alter, change, modify

   cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
3. verb

   assemble without order or sense
   synonyms: jumble, mix up

   conflate, confound

   mistake one thing for another

   types:

   addle, muddle, puddle

   mix up or confuse

   type of:

   assemble, piece, put together, set up, tack, tack together

   create by putting components or members together
4. verb

   be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
   “These questions confuse even the experts”

   synonyms: bedevil, befuddle, confound, discombobulate, fox, fuddle, throw

   disconcert, flurry, put off

   cause to feel embarrassment

   types:

   demoralise, demoralize

   confuse or put into disorder

   amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex

   be puzzling or bewildering to

   disorient, disorientate

   cause to be lost or disoriented

   mix up, stump

   cause to be perplexed or confounded

   riddle

   set a difficult problem or riddle

   elude, escape

   be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
5. verb

   cause to feel embarrassment
   “The constant attention of the young man confused her”

   synonyms: disconcert, flurry, put off

   bedevil, befuddle, confound, discombobulate, fox, fuddle, throw

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

   types:

   fluster

   cause to be nervous or upset

   bother

   make confused or perplexed or puzzled

   deflect, distract

   draw someone's attention away from something

   ruffle

   discompose

   type of:

   abash, embarrass

   cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious