- causing bewilderment; difficult to follow; puzzling
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
con•fus•ing /kənˈfyuzɪŋ/USA pronunciation adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- hard to understand;
unclear:a confusing answer to a question.
con•fus•ing
(kən fyo̅o̅′zing),USA pronunciation adj.
con•fus′ing•ly, adv.
con•fus′ing•ness, n.
- causing or tending to cause confusion:a confusing attempt at explanation.
- confuse + -ing2 1840–50
con•fus′ing•ness, n.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
confusing /kənˈfjuːzɪŋ/ adj
con•fuse /kənˈfyuz/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object], -fused, -fus•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to cause to make a mistake;
mix up: The flood of questions confused me. - to make hard to understand, unclear, or indistinct:Let's not confuse matters.
- to fail to distinguish between (two things):I always confuse the twins.[~ + object + with + object]I always confuse one twin with the other.
- confuse is a verb, confusion is a noun, confused and confusing are adjectives:All those numbers just confused me. The airport was a scene of confusion. Confused students looked at one another nervously. It was a confusing homework problem.
con•fuse
(kən fyo̅o̅z′),USA pronunciation v.t., -fused, -fus•ing.
con•fus′a•ble, adj.
con•fus′a•bil′i•ty, n.
con•fus′a•bly, adv.
con•fus•ed•ly
(kən fyo̅o̅′zid lē, -fyo̅o̅zd′-),USA pronunciation adv.
con•fus′ed•ness, n.
- to perplex or bewilder:The flood of questions confused me.
- to make unclear or indistinct:The rumors and angry charges tended to confuse the issue.
- to fail to distinguish between; associate by mistake;
confound:to confuse dates; He always confuses the twins. - to disconcert or abash:His candor confused her.
- to combine without order;
jumble;
disorder:Try not to confuse the papers on the desk. - [Archaic.]to bring to ruin or naught.
- Latin confūsus, past participle of confundere; see confound
- Anglo-French confus (with -ed -ed2 maintaining participial sense)
- back formation from confused (since early 19th century), Middle English confused
con•fus′a•bil′i•ty, n.
con•fus′a•bly, adv.
- 1. mystify, nonplus. Confuse, disconcert, embarrass imply temporary interference with the clear working of one's mind. To confuse is to produce a general bewilderment:to confuse someone by giving complicated directions.To disconcert is to disturb one's mind by irritation, perplexities, etc.:to disconcert someone by asking irrelevant questions.To embarrass is to cause one to be ill at ease or uncomfortable, so that one's usual judgment and presence of mind desert one:to embarrass someone by unexpected rudeness. 4. mortify, shame. 5. disarray, disarrange, disturb.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
confuse /kənˈfjuːz/ vb (transitive)
- to bewilder; perplex
- to mix up (things, ideas, etc); jumble
- to make unclear: he confused his talk with irrelevant details
- to fail to recognize the difference between; mistake (one thing) for another
- to disconcert; embarrass
- to cause to become disordered: the enemy ranks were confused by gas
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'confusing' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
confusion
- labyrinth
- maze
- academese
- bafflegab
- bewildering
- bewilderment
- disinterested
- embarras de richesses
- genetic fallacy
- hieroglyphic
- hopscotch
- indefinite
- jigsaw puzzle
- mazy
- morass
- musical chairs
- obliquity
- obscure
- only
- pakapoo ticket
- poser
- puzzle
- puzzling
- racket
- RPV
- thwart
- weasel word
