confound
Americanverb (used with object)
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confounds,
present (3rd person singular)
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confounded,
past participle, past
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confounding
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
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confoundernoun
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interconfoundverb (used with object)
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preconfoundverb (used with object)
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unconfoundverb (used with object)
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confoundableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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confoundsimple
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confoundssimple
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have confoundedperfect
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has confoundedperfect
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am confoundingprogressive
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are confoundingprogressive
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is confoundingprogressive
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have been confoundingperfect progressive
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has been confoundingperfect progressive
Past
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confoundedsimple
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had confoundedperfect
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was confoundingprogressive
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were confoundingprogressive
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had been confoundingperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
If you have an identical twin, you've probably tried dressing alike so that people confound you with, or mistake you for, one another. You've also probably learned that, unfortunately, this trick doesn’t work on your mom. The verb confound means both "to mistake" and "to confuse." If you decide to treat yourself to a delicious dessert, you might find yourself confounded by the overwhelming number of choices. If you end up ordering the chocolate cake but the waiter brings you chocolate mousse, the waiter has somehow confounded those two options. Another meaning you may come across in literature is "to damn," as in "Confound it! You are the most exasperating person on the planet."
Vocabulary lists containing confound
100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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Common Sense
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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.
See Examples For:
In not adhering to the expected rules of conflict-based drama, “Dreams in Nightmares” can confound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
But adding Alphabet won’t save the Dow from its other shortcomings, and the blue-chip index’s enduring popularity continues to confound me.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
There’s little airtight data on the fathering brain; cohorts are small; some results await replication while others confound analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Trump is a political survivor who has demonstrated a remarkable ability to confound conventional wisdom.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2026
He kicked, pounded, twisted, pushed, using his lack of size to confound and exasperate Elisha, whose damp fists, joined at the small of John’s back, soon slipped.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
“We found that even after getting rid of these confounds, people still claimed early.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026
“To be dead honest it confounds me,” said Jillian Michaels, the trainer turned podcaster, famous for her role on the reality TV show “Biggest Loser.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
“You're asking people in different age brackets, which confounds the entire thing, right?”
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2024
Increased lactate levels and reduced pH in postmortem brains of schizophrenics: medication confounds.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024
It confounds me when people don’t assist or even welcome those on their own team.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Raw milk’s success confounded me: How had it gained such a foothold in this country, despite regular outbreaks of salmonella and E. coli, and even the discovery of bird flu in Raw Farm’s milk?
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
The global energy state of play 100 days into the worst supply shock in modern history has confounded analysts and investors alike.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
However, they confounded those expectations and spent the vast majority of the season in the top six.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
The Fed won broad credit for its novel pandemic response, took a share of the blame for the high prices that followed and confounded predictions by bringing inflation down without a recession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
I stood confounded on the spot where we had last been together.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Betting on his confounding changeup turned him into a star.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
This is about as confounding as you can get.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Cleveland Guardians: Jo Adell didn’t come off the IL, but the addition of the former confounding Angels prospect in an August salary dump has bolstered the Guardians’ outfield — long a problem area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
This approach was designed to reduce bias and account for potential confounding factors.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 6, 2026
Immoral logic seemed to be confounding him at every turn.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
