confound

[kon-found, kuhn-, kon-found]

verb (used with object)

1. to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse.

   The complicated directions confounded him.

   Synonyms: nonplus, daze, dumbfound, astound

2. to throw into confusion or disorder.

   The revolution confounded the people.

3. to throw into increased confusion or disorder.

4. to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake.

   truth confounded with error.

5. to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.

6. to damn (used in mild imprecations).

   Confound it!

7. to contradict or refute.

   to confound their arguments.

8. to put to shame; abash.

9. Archaic.

   1. to defeat or overthrow.

   2. to bring to ruin or naught.

10. Obsolete.,  to spend uselessly; waste.

confound

/ kənˈfaʊnd /

verb

1. to astound or perplex; bewilder

2. to mix up; confuse

3. to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)

4. to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it! )

5. to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)

6. to rout or defeat (an enemy)

7. 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)

Word History and Origins

Origin of confound¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of confound¹

C13: from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to mingle, pour together, from fundere to pour

Example Sentences

It’s stiff karaoke that earns a confounded polite clap.

From Los Angeles Times

The first is Olympian, polymathic, erudite, antically funny, often beautiful, at times gross, at others incredibly romantic, never afraid to challenge or even confound, and unmistakably worked at.

From Los Angeles Times

The album is also a recognition that while heartbreak has confounded poets since the beginning of time, it remains an unknown.

From Los Angeles Times

The paradox, revealed in a study of the country's latest cancer registry, tells a story at once simple and confounding.

From BBC

The president also has the power to confound and bend political and social reality to his will, a dubious gift that has short-circuited systems of political accountability.

From Salon

Related Words

• amaze 
• astonish 
• astound 
• baffle 
• bewilder 
• discombobulate 
• dumbfound 
• embarrass 
• faze 
• mystify 
• perplex 
• puzzle 
• rattle 
• startle 
• surprise