confusecon‧fuse /kənˈfjuːz/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
I understand the text but the diagrams are confusing me.2to think wrongly that a person or thing is someone or something else: People might well confuse the two products.confuse somebody/something with somebody/something I always confuse you with your sister – you look so alike. Donald Regan, not to be confused with former President Ronald Reagan3confuse the issue/matter/argument etc to make it even more difficult to think clearly about a situation or problem or to deal with it: He kept asking unnecessary questions which only confused the issue.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINconfuse
Verb TableOrigin:
1800-1900 confusedVERB TABLE
confuse
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | confuse |
| he, she, it | confuses | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | confused |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have confused |
| he, she, it | has confused | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had confused |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will confuse |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have confused |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am confusing |
| he, she, it | is confusing | |
| you, we, they | are confusing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was confusing |
| you, we, they | were confusing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been confusing |
| he, she, it | has been confusing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been confusing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be confusing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been confusing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Don't show him the other way of doing it - it'll only confuse him.
- His sudden change in mood completely confused her.
- I always confuse Anthea with her sister - they're so alike.
- I hope my explanation didn't confuse everybody.
- I think my explanation only confused matters further.
- The instructions just confused me even more.
- The Press Secretary gave a completely different version of events, which greatly confused the situation.
- The twins liked to confuse their teachers by switching seats.
- Try not to confuse "your" and "you're".
- You don't write a resume to get a job; you write it to get an interview - don't get the two things confused.
- His policies, especially in the first two years of his presidency, often have been confusing and contradictory.
- It is only by confusing them that Atkins can hold that mathematics and physical reality are identical.
- It would be difficult to confuse this with any other species.
- She was confusing him with her old dreams.
- This nomenclature tends to confuse the terminology.
- We must be careful not to confuse two issues here.
Longman Language Activatorto make something unclear► confuse
Collocations to make a situation unclear by making it more complicated: · The instructions just confused me even more.· The Press Secretary gave a completely different version of events, which greatly confused the situation.confuse matters further (=make things more confused): · I think my explanation only confused matters further.
► blur to make the difference between two ideas or subjects unclear: · The difference between male and female roles within the house has become blurred.· The show blurs the difference between education and entertainment.· His novels tend to blur the distinctions between reality and fantasy.
► cloud/confuse the issue to make a subject or problem unclear by bringing in ideas, information, etc that are not really connected with it: · The Supreme Court's latest decision has only clouded the issue of gun control.· I'm talking about social problems. My opponent is just confusing the issue when he keeps referring to family values.
to think one person or thing is another person or thing► confuse to wrongly think that one person or thing is another person or thing: · Try not to confuse "your" and "you're".confuse somebody/something with somebody/something: · I always confuse Anthea with her sister - they're so alike.get somebody/something confused: · You don't write a résumé to get a job; you write it to get an interview - don't get the two things confused.
► mix up to make a mistake and think that one person or thing is another person or thing: mix up somebody/something: · Children often mix up "b" and "d" when they're learning to write.mix somebody/something up with somebody/something: · Is Stan the guy you work with or am I mixing him up with somebody else?get somebody/something mixed up: · Which one's Jane and which one's Jen? I always get their names mixed up.
to make someone feel confused► confuse · His sudden change in mood completely confused her.· Don't show him the other way of doing it - it'll only confuse him.
► puzzle if something puzzles you, you are completely unable to understand it, or why it has happened: · Her unwillingness to answer any of his questions puzzled him.what puzzles me is: · What puzzles me is why she doesn't just leave him.
► baffle if something baffles you, you cannot understand it at all, even though you try very hard to: · The exact nature of black holes continues to baffle scientists.· The fact that none of the neighbors ever reported the abuse has baffled authorities.
► throw if something throws you, it makes you suddenly feel confused because it is unexpected and surprising: · I could answer most of the questions but the last one really threw me.throw somebody for a loop American informal (=completely confuse someone): · Rick was Kitty's boyfriend, you know, and his death threw her for a loop.
► do your head in British spoken if someone or something is doing your head in , they are making you feel very confused and often very annoyed or worried: · He's so fussy about how he wants things done, it really does my head in.· I've got to do an essay on Kant and it's doing my head in.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► confuse/cloud/muddy the issue
Phrases (=make an issue more difficult to understand or deal with than it needs to be)· You must not let your feelings cloud the issue.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► about· Some are also unaware or confused about where to obtain birth control and what this involves.· Numbers Most business writers get confused about when to spell out numbers and when to use numerals.· Two of the stories in the new book also are about confused middle-aged men.· The trick is not to get confused about which is which.· Understand your priorities People are often confused about where to put the limited sums they can save.
► more· The more you try to decipher the more confusing it becomes.· But for newcomers, it also has never been more confusing to get started.· He could get no real grip on the situation, and the more he pondered, the more confused his thinking became.· All of which left me even more confused.· The keepers were more confused than the eagle was.· He said voters also may pay the price of an early primary with a more confusing ballot in November.· I was more confused than thrilled.
► often· Female speaker Carers are often confused because they don't know which of the many agencies to go to.· Freyja Freyja and Frigg are often confused and sometimes indistinguishable, but Freyja possesses a number of important individual traits.· Bullies are often confused by people who don't fight back but who continue to do what is right.· Gentiles are often confused about proper behavior, gifts, and attire.· Sandy Shores Prawns and shrimps are often confused.· As a result, the advice that physicians and the media offer people based on what these experts say is often confusing.
► so· He thought back and ... and it was all so confused and seemed so long ago.· Getting a phone call at the Writers' Club had so confused me that I became half deaf.· Yet he had looked at her today - Lord, she was so confused.· But as for me, I have not been so confused since high school geometry.· How could he be so confused?· But it can be so confusing for women.· Was she a silly adolescent girl to be so confused and seduced by a handsome face? a beautiful body?· Matson writes of her going to a Christmas party, where the conversations seem so confusing.
► sometimes· This might hamstring the government and its operation was sometimes confusing to foreign observers.· The clubs' history, as presented, is dizzying, sometimes confusing.· Some one else who is sometimes confused perhaps likes a trip to the pub at lunch-time.· Needless to say, it sometimes confuses the diagnosis.· It is therefore unsurprising that such seizures are sometimes confused with panic attacks.
► too· We hope you don't find this too confusing.· There, but too confused for events to register in my memory.· He was still too confused for any sort of confrontation with the old man.· Corporate intranets, immensely popular in the business world, may prove too confusing to use and too expensive to maintain.· It was all too quick, too confusing.· The worst thing we as consumers can do is to give up or not bother because it's all too confusing.· You were too confused by how the city and the people looked to you.
► very· To be sure, this is not the only criterion: the voices of other Christians may be very confused.· Bumper sticker thinking only adds to what is already a very confusing time for organizations and the people within them.· Inconsistencies can be very confusing for young children and conflicting attitudes over toilet training and discipline can lead to frustration and unhappiness.· Like a lot of people around here say, he has these very confused white people as parents.· Different definitions of charity for different purposes, for example, charity, tax, rating, would be very confusing.· What seem the simplest phrases in journalese shorthand can be very confusing.· Angie is a very confused lady at the moment, according to Freya Copeland, who plays Emmerdale's popular police sergeant.· I am now very confused about the whole thing.
NOUN► issue· It was the enlightened afrancesados who were to confuse political issues by their peculiar relation to liberalism.· This attempt to confuse the issue went unanswered, and Santa Anna continued his preparations to advance on the capital.· The politicians, on the lookout for arguments to extend their authoritarianism, jumped at this opportunity to confuse the issue.· The Catholic arguments confuse the issue, but this time, for all the wrong reasons, the Pope is infallible.· Perceptions, such as hers, distort the truth and confuse the issue.· We must be careful not to confuse two issues here.· To take them back west would he to confuse some issue that she did not want confused.
► people· Or was he merely seeking to confuse people in the West who have been calling for military intervention?· The feuding between ministers during the revivals had robbed them of some prestige and had confused people who were looking for stability.· You can confuse people even more thoroughly with windows.· Like a lot of people around here say, he has these very confused white people as parents.· Callie had seemed confused by outside people sometimes understanding her and sometimes not.· But it's not a name that will directly confuse people.· This is confusing to people who think Hebrew and Yiddish are the same.
► reader· Do not confuse your reader with technical terms or jargon.· Worse, it confuses your readers and makes a potentially interesting message boring.· While this may be historically correct, the change of notation may be confusing to some readers.
VERB► become· She became very upset and confused, clearly feeling that Balbinder's failure was her fault.· The electrons become confused, often losing track of the partner they brought to the dance.· My mind, once sound as a bell, became muddled and confused.· But, the reader will become confused and distracted by passives, so avoid them.· Victoria has lost her clarity and her fish have become confused.· Male moths become confused by the signals and are unable to find mates.· Alfred was like us, cool and real, but as the police moved in on him things became a bit confused.· This is where the present bounty hunter story has become confused.
► feel· Very often arrears mounted just when borrowers were least able to cope with the situation; they felt vulnerable and confused.· He felt confused, suspicious, betrayed.· But it has left me feeling rather - confused.· I had a feeling our house confused him.· He felt dazed and confused because he could not decide what Jeopardy had meant by his remark.· If Bruno felt confused or anxious, he could always simply smile and lie there.
► get· Knowing him, he'd keep them shut even if he was awake, just to get me confused.· I get confused and climb the wrong staircase.· Sometimes I get confused between work and socialising, especially when we spend our off-duty time discussing what we did on duty.· Numbers Most business writers get confused about when to spell out numbers and when to use numerals.· It's hardly surprising then, that we get confused by the signals he gives out - now more than ever.· We began sorting them into different area sizes as we were getting confused with those we had and didn't have.· Switzer got confused or tongue-tied again Thursday.
► look· Daak had looked confused: he marched straight to Ace, but seemed not to know what to do next.· If it sits there and looks confused for several seconds, be patient.· Jenna looked different, confused, more alive than usual.· She stops, then, looking confused.· Moira looked at her, confused.· I looked at him, confused.· He looked confused and swallowed repeatedly.
► seem· It seems you confuse Third World countries.· There is a perfectly logical reason why it seems so pointless and confusing.· Struan seems to confuse these two uses.· People seem confused, tensions run high, and constant crisis is a fact of organizational life.· Much of the technical literature on the subject seems to confuse the two sets of questions distinguished in this section.· They may seem confused, as if they are in their own world.· More importantly, Griffin seems either to be confused or just wrong about consciousness.· Callie had seemed confused by outside people sometimes understanding her and sometimes not.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► confuse the issue/matter/argument etc
Word family- His reply was inpart denial of the criticisms, and inpart an attempt to change the issue or confuse the matter.
- Making comparisons between brains is a very risky business because there are confounding variables to confuse the issue.
- Perceptions, such as hers, distort the truth and confuse the issue.
- The Catholic arguments confuse the issue, but this time, for all the wrong reasons, the Pope is infallible.
- The politicians, on the lookout for arguments to extend their authoritarianism, jumped at this opportunity to confuse the issue.
- This attempt to confuse the issue went unanswered, and Santa Anna continued his preparations to advance on the capital.
- This will only serve to confuse the issue.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveconfusedconfusingadverbconfusedlyconfusinglynounconfusionverbconfuse
1to make someone feel that they cannot think clearly or do not understand: I understand the text but the diagrams are confusing me.2to think wrongly that a person or thing is someone or something else: People might well confuse the two products.confuse somebody/something with somebody/something I always confuse you with your sister – you look so alike. Donald Regan, not to be confused with former President Ronald Reagan3confuse the issue/matter/argument etc to make it even more difficult to think clearly about a situation or problem or to deal with it: He kept asking unnecessary questions which only confused the issue.