confound

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
  2. verb mistake one thing for another

Etymology

From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.

In classic literature

Synonyms

confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, discombobulate

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