Synonyms

confused

American

[kuhn-fyoozd] / kənˈfyuzd /

adjective

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.
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.
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.
disconcerted, perturbed, or ashamed.

I emerged from the office red-faced and confused.
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

the simple past tense and past participle of confuse.

Other Word Forms

confusedly adverb
confusedness noun
preconfusedly adverb
superconfused adjective
unconfused adjective
unconfusedly adverb

Etymology

Origin of confused

First recorded in 1350–1400; confuse ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; confuse ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

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.

Its unusual internal shell has long confused scientists.

From Science Daily

"I'm not angry. I'm just bewildered, confused, unhappy," she said.

From Barron's

Richard Brown was so confused by the legal landscape that he fed two weeks’ worth of refund-related court rulings into an AI program and asked it to create a podcast to explain it to him.

From The Wall Street Journal

Early in 2025, multiple observers highlighted the Sphere's ongoing struggle to make money and one critic was left "confused and slightly dismayed" by their visit.

From BBC

Explanations were rare and disappointing, and she seemed genuinely confused that Janet resented being left alone.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023