confound
Americanverb (used with object)
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to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse.
The complicated directions confounded him.
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to throw into confusion or disorder.
The revolution confounded the people.
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to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
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to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake.
truth confounded with error.
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to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
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to damn (used in mild imprecations).
Confound it!
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to contradict or refute.
to confound their arguments.
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to put to shame; abash.
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Archaic.
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to defeat or overthrow.
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to bring to ruin or naught.
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Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.
verb
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to astound or perplex; bewilder
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to mix up; confuse
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to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
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to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it! )
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to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
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to rout or defeat (an enemy)
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obsolete to waste
Other Word Forms
- confoundable adjective
- confounder noun
- interconfound verb (used with object)
- preconfound verb (used with object)
- unconfound verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of confound
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conf(o)unden, from Anglo-French confoundre, from Latin confundere “to mix,” equivalent to con- con- + fundere “to pour”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Olvera expressed optimism about the future of Latinos in the U.S., pointing to the growing power of the confounding Latino vote.
From Los Angeles Times
Even after Blanc arrives, he’s confounded to find himself occasionally standing on the sidelines, a bystander in Jud’s moral crusade to herd his congregation toward righteousness.
From Los Angeles Times
Then, as has happened so often this season, a confounding moment of adversity struck.
From Los Angeles Times
The various studies are mainly observational and could be skewed by confounding factors—people who are healthy for other reasons could use stairs more, for example.
From Barron's
“There’s no sugarcoating this,” Freeman echoed a few weeks later, when another confounding sweep to the Pittsburgh Pirates in early September was followed by another walk-off loss to the Orioles in team’s series-opener in Baltimore.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
