confound
[kon-found, kuh n-; for 6 usually kon-found]
- to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse: The complicated directions confounded him.
- to throw into confusion or disorder: The revolution confounded the people.
- to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
- to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake: truth confounded with error.
- to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
- to damn (used in mild imprecations): Confound it!
- to contradict or refute: to confound their arguments.
- to put to shame; abash.
- Archaic.
- to defeat or overthrow.
- to bring to ruin or naught.
- Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.
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Origin of confound
1250–1300; Middle English conf(o)unden < Anglo-French confoundre < Latin confundere to mix, equivalent to con- con- + fundere to pour
Synonyms
See more synonyms for confound on Thesaurus.com1. dumbfound, daze, nonplus, astound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for confound
Contemporary Examples
The increase in recognition of autism spectrum disorders in Western countries continues to confound and confuse.
Yet, as a whole, the events that transpired between 1900 and 2000 B.C.E. still manage to confound the contemporary imagination.
He may be an exception, but his example proves that grace can confound the expectations and machinations of curial politics.
To complicate and confound matters further, North Korea has done more than simply throw grenades.
To confound the problem, there has not been a UN human rights monitor in Iran since 2002.
Historical Examples
But no—confound it—there was some one coming down the avenue!
The Tenant of Wildfell HallAnne Bronte
Besides, confound it, Tom, you could be useful to me in a hundred ways.'
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Confound her, it was like her pale face to be wandering up and down the house!
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
It is not essential formally and absolutely to confound will with desire.
Initiation into PhilosophyEmile Faguet
Why should I look him up, confound him—he hadn't bothered his head about me.
The HarborErnest Poole
confound
- to astound or perplex; bewilder
- to mix up; confuse
- to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
- (kɒnˈfaʊnd) to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it!)
- to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
- to rout or defeat (an enemy)
- obsolete to waste
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to mingle, pour together, from fundere to pour
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for confound
v.
c.1300, "make uneasy, abash," from Anglo-French confoundre, Old French confondre (12c.) "crush, ruin, disgrace, throw into disorder," from Latin confundere "to confuse," literally "to pour together, mix, mingle," from com- "together" (see com-) + fundere "to pour" (see found (v.2)).
The figurative sense of "confuse, fail to distinguish, mix up" emerged in Latin, passed into French and thence into Middle English, where it is mostly found in Scripture; the sense of "destroy utterly" is recorded in English from c.1300. Meaning "perplex" is late 14c. The Latin past participle confusus, meanwhile, became confused (q.v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper