Showing results for "confused"

• past tense form of confuse.
• past participle of confuse.

confused

American  

[kuhn-fyoozd] / kənˈfjuzd /

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.

confused British  

/ kənˈfjuːzd, -ˈfjuːzd- /

adjective

1. feeling or exhibiting an inability to understand; bewildered; perplexed

2. in a disordered state; mixed up; jumbled

3. lacking sufficient mental abilities for independent living, esp through old age

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Other Word Forms

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

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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

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Explanation

If you are confused about something, you can't think clearly. If your new friend keeps impossibly showing up in different outfits, you'll be confused until you discover she has an identical twin. Confuse is a modern verb, the old form being confound which means "to bring to ruin or disorder." When you are confused, what's ruined is your sense of the order of things. If you return to a city where you used to live, and a dog grooming store has replaced your apartment and a dump has replaced the park, you'll feel emotionally confused. If you think that Tom is Harry and Harry is Tom, you've confused them in your mind.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confused

Teenagers will always feel jealous, obsessed, insecure, confused about who they are and what the future holds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Voters who spoke with the BBC in the state said they were confused over the move, with some questioning whether the congresswoman was acting out of anger.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

He got even more confused when I told him what the pots were holding: giant-sequoia babies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

“There are a number of scenarios where it could be obvious that a voter was confused by the way they wrote down candidates,” Blanche told CNN on Sunday.

From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026

Based on Andre’s twitching legs and wrinkled forehead, he’s just as confused as me.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

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Related Words

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

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