Confuse Meaning
/kənˈfjuːz/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbto puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand
verbTo mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another).
Sentence Examples
Never confuse art with life.
Never confuse opinions with facts.
These two sets of statistics are guaranteed to confuse the public.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The tricky math problem will likely ____ even the brightest students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please speak clearly and slowly, or you will completely ____ the tourists asking for directions.
Word Origin & History
Back-formation from confused, from Middle English confused (“frustrated, ruined”), from Anglo-Norman confus, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundō.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew about it," said Zhang, a 26-year-old government employee from Shandong."
— 2018 August 23, Engen Tham, “Data dump: China sees surge in personal information up for sale”, in Reuters:
"President Donald Trump’s offer to most federal employees to resign now and be paid through September stunned the workers who received it – angering some, confusing many and raising questions about whether the offer is even legal."
— 2025 February 1, Tami Luhby, Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh, “Federal employees confused, angered by Trump’s offer to quit”, in CNN:
"Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned Donald Trump’s mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when talking about the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. […] “They’re saying he got confused. That he was talking about something else. That he was talking about Nancy Pelosi. He mentioned me multiples times in that scenario,” the former South Carolina governor added."
— 2024 January 20, Ebony Davis, “Haley questions Trump’s mental fitness after he confuses her with Nancy Pelosi”, in CNN:
"Moꝛe ouer take away oꝛdre from all thynges / what ſhulde than remayne? certes nothynge finally / except ſome man wolde imagine eftſones / Chaos: whiche of ſome is expounde a cõfuse mixture: […]"
— 1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Signification of a Publike Weale / and Why It Is Called in Latin Respublica”, in The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC, 1st boke, folio 2, verso:
"The 11. article is ſo confuſe that it is harde to bring it into any certeine numbre of demandes."
— 1577, William Fulke, “An Answer of a True Christian to a Counterfait Catholike”, in Two Treatises Written against the Papistes, […], London: […] Thomas Thomas Vautrollier […], →OCLC, page 34:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The tricky math problem will likely ____ even the brightest students.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please speak clearly and slowly, or you will completely ____ the tourists asking for directions.