Another word for confuse
a-z
Verb
To cause to be unclear in mind or intent
- To propel through the air with a motion of the hand or arm.
- To propel or discharge into the air by any means:
- To cause to move with great force or speed; propel or displace:
- Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.
- Something that baffles or confuses; an enigma:
- The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment:
- To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt.
- To make confusedly intricate; complicate:
- To confuse or bewilder.
- To make obscure or mysterious:
- To mix together, especially confusedly:
- To mix (a drink or the ingredients of a drink), especially with a muddler.
- To put into a state of confusion; confuse:
- A state or an instance of confusion; a muddle:
- A fight or melee.
- To mix in a confused way; throw together carelessly:
- To muddle; confuse:
- To be mixed in a confused way:
- To put into a state of confusion.
- To make drunk; intoxicate.
- To drink; tipple.
- Having a whirling sensation and a tendency to fall.
- Bewildered or confused:
- Scatterbrained or silly.
- To throw into a state of confusion.
- To cause to become confused or perplexed.
- To fail to distinguish; mix up:
- To make (something bad) worse:
- To confuse or befuddle, especially by being complicated or varied.
- To cause to lose one's bearings; disorient:
- To cause (someone) to be unable to think clearly; confuse:
- To stupefy with alcohol; intoxicate.
- To cause (someone) to think unclearly; confuse:
- To become confused.
- To become rotten, as an egg.
To cause (a person) to be self-consciously distressed
- To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride.
- To discipline (one's of the body and the appetites) by self-denial or self-inflicted privation, especially for religious reasons.
- To practice mortification of the body and its appetites.
- To disrupt the composure of; disconcert.
- To cause to feel self-conscious or ill at ease; disconcert:
- To hinder with obstacles or difficulties; impede:
- To involve in or hamper with financial difficulties:
- To view or treat with disfavor.
- To put out of countenance; disconcert.
- Disfavor or disapproval.
- To cause to lose composure; embarrass or confuse:
- To frustrate (plans, for example) by throwing into disorder; disarrange.
- Mental or bodily distress.
- Something that disturbs one's comfort; an annoyance.
- To make uncomfortable; distress.
- To make uneasy or perplexed; disconcert.
- To defeat in battle; vanquish.
- Discomfiture.
- To cause to become confused or perplexed.
- To fail to distinguish; mix up:
- To make (something bad) worse:
- A keen feeling of mental unease, as of annoyance or embarrassment, caused by failure, disappointment, or a disconcerting event:
- To cause to feel chagrin; mortify or discomfit:
- To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert.
Idioms:See also:To take (one thing) mistakenly for another
- A state or an instance of confusion; a muddle:
- A fight or melee.
- An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.
- A misconception or misunderstanding.
- To understand wrongly; misinterpret:
- To cause to become confused or perplexed.
- To fail to distinguish; mix up:
- To make (something bad) worse:
See also:To put into total disorder
- A chaotic or confused situation.
- In a state of confusion or chaos.
- To make confused or chaotic.
- To growl viciously while baring the teeth.
- To speak angrily or threateningly.
- To utter with anger or hostility:
- To move or climb hurriedly, especially on the hands and knees.
- To struggle or contend frantically in order to get something:
- To take off with all possible haste, as to intercept enemy aircraft.
- To mix together, especially confusedly:
- To mix (a drink or the ingredients of a drink), especially with a muddler.
- To put into a state of confusion; confuse:
- To mix in a confused way; throw together carelessly:
- To muddle; confuse:
- To be mixed in a confused way:
- A lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion.
- A breach of civic order or peace; a public disturbance.
- An ailment that affects the function of mind or body:
Idioms:See also:
© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Another word for confuse
Verb
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- To throw into a state of confusion.
- To propel through the air with a motion of the hand or arm.
- To propel or discharge into the air by any means:
- To cause to move with great force or speed; propel or displace:
- To confuse; perplex.
- The part of a tree trunk left protruding from the ground after the tree has fallen or has been felled.
- A part, as of a branch, limb, or tooth, remaining after the main part has been cut away, broken off, or worn down.
- The legs.
- A condition of confusion caused by mistakes or poor judgment.
- A mechanical failure.
- To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions:
- To throw into confusion or disorder; entangle.
- To confuse or bewilder.
- To make obscure or mysterious:
- To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand:
- To render indistinct or dim; darken:
- Deficient in light; dark:
- So faintly perceptible as to lack clear delineation; indistinct:
- Indistinctly heard; faint.
- To cover or obscure with or as if with fog.
- To cause confusion in; muddle.
- to hold back the motion or action of, as with a burden; hinder; hamper
- to fill in such a way as to obstruct; block up; obstruct
- to load or weigh down, as with claims, debts, etc.; burden
- To cause to become twisted together or caught in a snarl or entwining mass:
- To involve in a complicated situation or in circumstances from which it is difficult to disengage:
- To cause (the quantum states of two or more objects) to become correlated in such a way that they remain correlated, even though the objects are separated spatially.
- To cause (someone) to have difficulty paying attention to something:
- To attract (the attention) away from its original focus; divert.
- To cause to feel worried or uneasy; unsettle:
- To disrupt the composure of; disconcert.
- To cause to lose enthusiasm or resolution; disillusion or discourage:
- To upset or distress:
- A sudden or complete loss of courage in the face of trouble or danger.
- To disturb or confuse; make uneasy or anxious:
- To cause (a system) to become altered or imbalanced from a normal state:
- To cause perturbation in (the orbit of a celestial body, for example) by gravitational interaction.
- To prevent (someone) from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart:
- To cause feelings of discouragement, annoyance, or lack of fulfillment in:
- To prevent from coming to fruition or fulfillment; render ineffectual:
- To disturb the order, arrangement, or functioning of:
- To upset (normal condition or functioning, as of a bodily organ).
- To cause to be psychotic or otherwise severely mentally unsound.
- To remove (a door, for example) from the hinges.
- To separate or disconnect:
- To confuse or disrupt:
- To secure ratlines to (shrouds).
- To have as a necessary feature or consequence; entail:
- To relate to or affect:
- To cause to burn; spread to:
- To make or become complex or perplexing.
- To twist or become twisted together.
- Complex, intricate, and involved.
- To put into a state of confusion.
- To make drunk; intoxicate.
- To drink; tipple.
- To make uneasy or perplexed; disconcert.
- To defeat in battle; vanquish.
- Discomfiture.
- To cause (someone) to think unclearly; confuse:
- To become confused.
- To become rotten, as an egg.
- To make dark or darker.
- To give a darker hue to.
- To fill with sadness; make gloomy.
- A confused or disordered state or collection; a jumble:
- A confused noise; a clatter.
- To fill or spread over in a disorderly manner:
- To mix together, especially confusedly:
- To mix (a drink or the ingredients of a drink), especially with a muddler.
- To put into a state of confusion; confuse:
- To cause (a person, for example) to experience disorientation.
- To change from a settled condition; disrupt:
- To make uneasy; disturb:
- To growl viciously while baring the teeth.
- To speak angrily or threateningly.
- To utter with anger or hostility:
- A state of distress, affliction, difficulty, or need:
- A distressing or difficult circumstance or situation:
- A cause or source of distress, disturbance, or difficulty:
- To feel uneasy or concerned about something; be troubled.
- To seize something with the teeth and bite or tear repeatedly:
- To touch or handle something nervously or persistently:
- To torment mercilessly; plague.
- To worry, annoy, or frustrate.
- To possess with or as if with a devil; bewitch.
- To cause to move with violence or sudden force.
- To upset; disturb:
- To arouse interest in (a cause, for example) by use of the written or spoken word; discuss or debate.
- Condensed water vapor in cloudlike masses lying close to the ground and limiting visibility.
- An obscuring haze, as of atmospheric dust or smoke.
- A mist or film clouding a surface, as of a window, lens, or mirror.
- To darken with or as if with clouds; obscure:
- A visible body of very fine water droplets or ice particles suspended in the atmosphere at altitudes ranging up to several miles above sea level.
- A mass of particles or droplets, as of dust, smoke, or steam, suspended in the atmosphere or existing in outer space.
- A large moving body of things in the air or on the ground; a swarm:
- To mix or bring together in combination:
- To be or become mixed or united:
- To associate or take part with others:
- To combine or blend into one mass or mixture:
- To create or form by combining ingredients:
- To add (an ingredient or element) to another:
- To combine or mix (different substances) so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable from one another:
- To combine (varieties or grades of the same substance) to obtain a mixture of a particular character, quality, or consistency:
- To combine (different elements) into a single entity:
- To move or climb hurriedly, especially on the hands and knees.
- To struggle or contend frantically in order to get something:
- To take off with all possible haste, as to intercept enemy aircraft.
- To mix up or distort to such an extent as to make misleading or incomprehensible:
- To scramble (a signal or message), as by erroneous encoding or faulty transmission.
- To sort out; cull.
- A state or an instance of confusion; a muddle:
- A fight or melee.
- To mix in a confused way; throw together carelessly:
- To muddle; confuse:
- To be mixed in a confused way:
- A lack of order or regular arrangement; confusion.
- A breach of civic order or peace; a public disturbance.
- An ailment that affects the function of mind or body:
- To upset the proper arrangement or order of.
- To fill with sudden wonder or amazement.
- To stun or bewilder, as with a heavy blow or shock; stupefy:
- To dazzle, as with strong light.
- A stunned or bewildered condition:
- To cause to feel self-conscious or ill at ease; disconcert:
- To hinder with obstacles or difficulties; impede:
- To involve in or hamper with financial difficulties:
- To provide with incorrect information.
- To lead in the wrong direction.
- To give a wrong impression or lead toward a wrong conclusion, especially by intentionally deceiving.
- To confuse or perplex, especially so as to frustrate or prevent from taking action:
- To impede the force or movement of (a fluid).
- A usually static device that regulates the flow of a fluid or light.
- To cause (someone) to be unable to think clearly; confuse:
- To stupefy with alcohol; intoxicate.
- To cause to overturn; knock or tip over:
- To disturb the functioning, order, or course of:
- To cause (the stomach) to feel ill.
- To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound.
- A brief, light snowfall.
- A sudden gust of wind.
- A stirring mass, as of leaves or dust; a shower.
- To disturb the composure or calm of; perturb.
- To put into a state of disorder.
- To make or become nervous or upset.
- A state of agitation, confusion, or excitement.
- To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert.
- To cause to lose composure; embarrass or confuse:
- To frustrate (plans, for example) by throwing into disorder; disarrange.
- To put at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; bewilder.
- To cause to feel indifferent or bored.
- A state of bewilderment or perplexity.
- To cause to become confused or perplexed.
- To fail to distinguish; mix up:
- To make (something bad) worse:
- To confuse or befuddle, especially by being complicated or varied.
- To cause to lose one's bearings; disorient:
- To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt.
- To make confusedly intricate; complicate:
- Something, such as a game, toy, or problem, that requires ingenuity and often persistence in solving or assembling.
- Something that baffles or confuses; an enigma:
- The condition of being perplexed; bewilderment:
Synonym Study
- Dumbfound specifically implies as its effect a nonplused or confounded state in which one is momentarily struck speechless
- Nonplus implies such perplexity or confusion that one is utterly incapable of speaking, acting, or thinking further
- Bewilder implies such utter confusion that the mind is staggered beyond the ability to think clearly
- Perplex , in addition, implies uncertainty or even worry as to what to think, say, or do
- Puzzle implies that one has great difficulty in understanding or solving something, as a situation or problem, because of its intricacy or baffling quality
- Confound implies such confusion as completely frustrates or greatly astonishes one
- Confuse implies a mixing up mentally to a greater or lesser degree
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.