confuse
verb /kənˈfjuːz/
/kənˈfjuːz/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they confuse | /kənˈfjuːz/ /kənˈfjuːz/ |
| he / she / it confuses | /kənˈfjuːzɪz/ /kənˈfjuːzɪz/ |
| past simple confused | /kənˈfjuːzd/ /kənˈfjuːzd/ |
| past participle confused | /kənˈfjuːzd/ /kənˈfjuːzd/ |
| -ing form confusing | /kənˈfjuːzɪŋ/ /kənˈfjuːzɪŋ/ |
- to make somebody unable to think clearly or understand something
- confuse somebody These two sets of statistics are guaranteed to confuse the public.
- confuse somebody with something They confused me with conflicting accounts of what happened.
Extra Examples- Seeing the two of them together totally confused me.
- They have deliberately confused the general public with their claims.
- Doctors love to confuse us with obscure Latin names and terms.
- These instructions confused everyone.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- really
- thoroughly
- …
- to think wrongly that somebody/something is somebody/something else synonym mix up
- confuse A and B People often confuse me and my twin sister.
- confuse A with B Be careful not to confuse quantity with quality.
- confuse A for B She says that meteors breaking apart can easily be confused for UFOs.
Extra Examples- I sometimes confuse Jane with her sister.
- You can easily confuse the two paintings.
- An apology for something should not be confused with genuine remorse.
- The Tasmanian wolf is not to be confused with the dingo.
- The condition can sometimes be confused for influenza.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- easily
- for
- with
- confuse something to make a subject more difficult to understand
- His comments only served to confuse the issue further.
Extra Examples- There are too many different rules confusing the situation.
- Just to confuse matters, they have decided to give all the streets new names.
- His latest comments only serve to confuse the issue further.
- I will try to be brief and avoid further confusing the issue.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- really
- thoroughly
- …
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘rout, bring to ruin’): from Old French confus, from Latin confusus, past participle of confundere ‘mingle together’. Originally all senses of the verb were passive, and therefore appeared only as the past participle confused; the active voice occurred rarely until the 19th cent. when it began to replace confound.