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Synonyms

confusion

American  
[kuhn-fyoo-zhuhn] / kənˈfyu ʒən /

noun

  1. the act of confusing. confusing.

  2. the state of being confused.

    Synonyms:
    distraction

  3. disorder; upheaval; tumult; chaos.

    The army retreated in confusion.
    Synonyms:
    disarray, mess, jumble, turmoil

  4. lack of clearness or distinctness.

    a confusion in his mind between right and wrong.

  5. perplexity; bewilderment.

    The more difficult questions left us in complete confusion.

  6. embarrassment or abashment.

    He blushed in confusion.
    Synonyms:
    mortification, shame

  7. Psychiatry. a disturbed mental state; disorientation.

  8. Archaic. defeat, overthrow, or ruin.

confusion British  
/ kənˈfjuːʒən /

noun

  1. the act of confusing or the state of being confused

  2. disorder; jumble

  3. bewilderment; perplexity

  4. lack of clarity; indistinctness

  5. embarrassment; abashment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • confusional adjective
  • preconfusion noun
  • reconfusion noun
  • superconfusion noun

Etymology

Origin of confusion

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin confūsiōn-, stem of confūsiō “disorder, mixture,” literally “a mixing,” from confūs(us) “mixed” (past participle of cōnfundere; confound ) + -iō -ion

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.

When attached to a character, indeterminacy manifests itself as confusion, and the novel mines a lot of humor from the bumbling of its poet-antihero.

From The Wall Street Journal

She slows to a stop, and despite the confusion, her spirits lift.

From Literature

He takes it from me, his look of confusion now mixed with concern.

From Literature

The badger stepped back, surveying the surrounding forest with obvious confusion.

From Literature

If not for the humans on hand — the ones they eventually want to get rid of — the students would be lost in confusion.

From Salon

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.