confused

/kənˈfjuzd/

/kənˈfjuzd/

If you are confused about something, you can't think clearly. If your new friend keeps impossibly showing up in different outfits, you'll be confused until you discover she has an identical twin.

Confuse is a modern verb, the old form being confound which means "to bring to ruin or disorder." When you are confused, what's ruined is your sense of the order of things. If you return to a city where you used to live, and a dog grooming store has replaced your apartment and a dump has replaced the park, you'll feel emotionally confused. If you think that Tom is Harry and Harry is Tom, you've confused them in your mind.

Definitions of confused

1. adjective

   mentally confused; unable to think with clarity or act intelligently
   “the flood of questions left her bewildered and confused”

   synonyms:

   addlebrained, addlepated, muddleheaded, puddingheaded

   stupid and confused

   addled, befuddled, muddled, muzzy, woolly, woolly-headed, wooly, wooly-minded

   confused and vague; used especially of thinking

   befogged, befuddled

   stupefied by alcoholic drink

   clouded

   mentally disordered

   dazed, stunned, stupefied, stupid

   in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock

   dazzled

   stupefied or dizzied by something overpowering

   trancelike

   as if in a trance

   punch-drunk, silly, slaphappy

   dazed from or as if from repeated blows

   spaced-out

   confused or disoriented as if intoxicated through taking a drug

   perplexed

   full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment

   antonyms:

   clearheaded

   not mentally confused; able to think clearly and act intelligently

   clear

   free from confusion or doubt

   unclouded

   not mentally disordered
2. adjective

   perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment
   synonyms: at sea, baffled, befuddled, bemused, bewildered, confounded, lost, mazed, mixed-up

   perplexed

   full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment
3. adjective

   having lost your bearings; confused as to time or place or personal identity
   synonyms: disoriented, lost

   unoriented

   not having position or goal definitely set or ascertained
4. adjective

   lacking orderly continuity
   “a confused set of instructions”

   “a confused dream about the end of the world”

   synonyms: disconnected, disjointed, disordered, garbled, illogical, scattered, unconnected

   incoherent

   without logical or meaningful connection
5. adjective

   thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
   “a confused mass of papers on the desk”

   synonyms: broken, disordered, upset

   disorganised, disorganized

   lacking order or methodical arrangement or function