confusticate
[ kuh n-fuhs-ti-keyt ]
/ kənˈfʌs tɪˌkeɪt /
verb (used with object), con·fus·ti·cat·ed, con·fus·ti·cat·ing.
Slang. to confuse or perplex; bewilder.
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Nearby words
- confused,
- confused elderly,
- confused flour beetle,
- confusing,
- confusion,
- confutation,
- confute,
- cong,
- cong.,
- conga
Origin of confusticate
1845–50; used by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit; pseudo-Latinism formed from English confuse
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
confusticate
mid-19c., a fantastical American English coinage from confound or confuse, perhaps originally in minstrel show comedy, along with confubuscate, conflabberated, etc.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper