confused

American  

[kuhn-fyoozd] / kənˈfyuzd /

adjective

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. disconcerted, perturbed, or ashamed.

   I emerged from the office red-faced and confused.

5. 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.

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verb

1. 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

Seeing I was confused and trying to find a place for myself in this operation, 62-year-old Esteban called me over to his row, “so I could get some exercise.”

From Los Angeles Times

In the play, two minor characters from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” bumble about, confused about their role in the prince’s drama, and wander into existential discussions about the search for meaning.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fish and Wildlife Service were conducting an investigation in the area and were confused for Customs and Border Protection officers.

From Los Angeles Times

I’m grateful to everyone who reads and shares this tradition, through all your family games, neighborhood feuds, sprained ankles, surgically-repaired shoulders, weddings, graduations, funerals, babies and at least three confused Aaron Rodgers franchises.

From The Wall Street Journal

The harvest of that change was an inaugural meeting of the new panel that was enveloped in a miasma of confused, uninformed debate.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• baffled
• befuddled
• bewildered
• dazed
• disorganized
• distracted
• muddled
• perplexed
• perturbed
• puzzled