confused

[ kuhn-fyoozd ]
See synonyms for confused on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not thinking coherently or rationally; bewildered; perplexed: My attempt to explain was met with confused stares and shrugging shoulders.Hopelessly confused, I just tossed my trash into what I thought was the right receptacle.

  2. incorrectly differentiated, identified, or associated: You’re getting him confused with another player with the same name—this one plays for the Twins.In this lesson, students learn the frequently confused words their, they’re, and there.

  1. without order; jumbled:Over time, the original neat lines of tents grew into a confused tangle of canvas-roofed shelters.What was once an imposing fortress is now just a confused heap of erect and fallen stones.

  2. disconcerted, perturbed, or ashamed: I emerged from the office red-faced and confused.

  3. expressed in a way that is not easily understood:The novel plods along trying to provide hopelessly confused technical detail, much of which is blatantly impossible according to the elementary laws of physics.

verb
  1. the simple past tense and past participle of confuse.

Origin of confused

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; confuse + -ed2 for the adjective senses; confuse + -ed1 for the verb sense

Other words from confused

  • con·fus·ed·ly [kuhn-fyoo-zid-lee, -fyoozd-], /kənˈfyu zɪd li, -ˈfyuzd-/, adverb
  • con·fus·ed·ness, noun
  • pre·con·fus·ed·ly, adverb
  • su·per·con·fused, adjective
  • un·con·fused, adjective
  • un·con·fus·ed·ly, adverb

Words Nearby confused

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use confused in a sentence

  • The crowd shuffled off in all directions, and then engaged in a confused struggle for the chairs.

    Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. Carryl
  • Results are in terms of bulk of precipitate, which must not be confused with percentage by weight.

    A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
  • She now understood nearly all that was said directly to her, though she could not follow general and confused conversation.

    Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
  • He gave me some instructions, but I was too confused to understand them, and too shy to ask questions.

  • Irregular spurts of musketry heralded the appearance of confused masses of armed men.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for confused

confused

/ (kənˈfjuːzd) /


adjective
  1. feeling or exhibiting an inability to understand; bewildered; perplexed

  2. in a disordered state; mixed up; jumbled

  1. lacking sufficient mental abilities for independent living, esp through old age

Derived forms of confused

  • confusedly (kənˈfjuːzɪdlɪ, -ˈfjuːzd-), adverb
  • confusedness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012