confusionnoun
uk/kənˈfjuː.ʒən/us/kənˈfjuː.ʒən/B2 [ C or U ] a situation in which people do not understand what is happening, what they should do or who someone or something is:
There seems to be some confusion over who is actually giving the talk.
To avoid confusion, the twins never wore the same clothes.
B2 [ U ] a situation, often with a lot of activity and noise, in which people do not know what to do:
In the confusion after the bomb blast, I lost my bag and wasn't able to stop and look for it.
More examples
- A spokeswoman blamed the confusion on miscommunication between the company and its customers.
- The picture emerging in reports from the battlefield is one of complete confusion.
- Label your suitcases to prevent confusion.
- The confusion was caused when two numbers were accidentally transposed by a Social Security clerk.
- From every direction, people were running and shouting and falling over each other in a tumult of confusion.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Confusion, confusing and feeling confused
- a chicken and egg situation idiom
- addle
- all of a doodah idiom
- all over the place idiom
- at sea idiom
- brainstorm
- disoriented
- distraction
- dither
- dizziness
- doodah
- ferment
- flutter
- not know what hit you idiom
- not know where/which way to turn idiom
- not know whether to laugh or cry idiom
- not know whether you are coming or going idiom
- off balance
- turbulence
- whirl
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