conflate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
conflatesimple
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conflatessimple
-
have conflatedperfect
-
has conflatedperfect
-
am conflatingprogressive
-
are conflatingprogressive
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is conflatingprogressive
-
have been conflatingperfect progressive
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has been conflatingperfect progressive
Past
-
conflatedsimple
-
had conflatedperfect
-
was conflatingprogressive
-
were conflatingprogressive
-
had been conflatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of conflate
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin conflātus “fused together,” past participle of conflāre “to fuse together,” from con- con- + flāre “to blow” ( see also blow 2)
Explanation
Conflate is a more formal way to say "mix together," and it's typically used for texts or ideas. You probably wouldn't say you conflated the ingredients for a cake, but if you blended two different stories together to make a new one, conflate would work. The verb conflate comes to us from the Latin word conflare, which literally means "to blow together." So think of using this word when you want to talk about two things getting thrown together and combined. Things that have been conflated often seem mixed up or confused. In fact, this word is also now sometimes used to mean "confuse or mix up."
Vocabulary lists containing conflate
Power Prefix: con-
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Four Power Prefixes: anti-, con-, inter-, and uni-.
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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.
Don’t conflate Fama and his merry band of economists at the business school with the Chicago School of Economics, practitioners in the university’s economics department led by another Nobel laureate, Milton Friedman.
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
The Founders didn’t conflate theology with virtue or believe religion has meaning without the underlying common morals it imparts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
It’s easy to conflate this with laziness or thoughtlessness.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 30, 2026
And while Sweeney has certainly faced her own share of critics throughout her relatively young career, director David Michôd’s film is eager to conflate these two stories.
From Salon • Nov. 8, 2025
Sometimes again the Codex Zographensis is alone in curious readings which seem to be conflations of the texts found in the other two manuscripts, or based on a conflate Greek text.
From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. II. by Scrivener, Frederick Henry Ambrose
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.
