释义 |
confuse
con·fuse C0565100 (kən-fyo͞oz′)v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr.1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; bewilder or perplex.b. Archaic To cause to feel embarrassment.2. a. To fail to differentiate (one person or thing) from another: confused effusiveness with affection.b. To make more complex or difficult to understand: "The old labels ... confuse debate instead of clarifying it" (Christopher Lasch).v.intr. To make something unclear or incomprehensible: a new tax code that only confuses. [Middle English confusen, from Old French confus, perplexed, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundere, to mix together; see confound.] con·fus′a·ble adj.con·fus′ing·ly adv.confuse (kənˈfjuːz) vb (tr) 1. to bewilder; perplex2. to mix up (things, ideas, etc); jumble3. to make unclear: he confused his talk with irrelevant details. 4. to fail to recognize the difference between; mistake (one thing) for another5. to disconcert; embarrass6. to cause to become disordered: the enemy ranks were confused by gas. [C18: back formation from confused, from Latin confūsus mingled together, from confundere to pour together; see confound] conˈfusable adj, n conˌfusaˈbility ncon•fuse (kənˈfyuz) v.t. -fused, -fus•ing. 1. to perplex or bewilder: The flood of questions confused me. 2. to make unclear or indistinct: The new evidence tended to confuse the issue. 3. to fail to distinguish between; associate by mistake: I always confuse the twins. 4. to disconcert or abash. 5. to combine without order; jumble; disorder. 6. Archaic. to bring to ruin or naught. [1375–1425; late Middle English, back formation from confused bewildered < Anglo-French confus (with -ed -ed2 maintaining participial sense) < Latin confūsus, past participle of confundere; see confound] con•fus′a•ble, adj. con•fus′a•bly, adv. con•fus′ed•ly, adv. confuse - Originally meant "rout" or "bring to ruin."See also related terms for ruin.confuse Past participle: confused Gerund: confusing
Present |
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I confuse | you confuse | he/she/it confuses | we confuse | you confuse | they confuse |
Preterite |
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I confused | you confused | he/she/it confused | we confused | you confused | they confused |
Present Continuous |
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I am confusing | you are confusing | he/she/it is confusing | we are confusing | you are confusing | they are confusing |
Present Perfect |
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I have confused | you have confused | he/she/it has confused | we have confused | you have confused | they have confused |
Past Continuous |
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I was confusing | you were confusing | he/she/it was confusing | we were confusing | you were confusing | they were confusing |
Past Perfect |
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I had confused | you had confused | he/she/it had confused | we had confused | you had confused | they had confused |
Future |
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I will confuse | you will confuse | he/she/it will confuse | we will confuse | you will confuse | they will confuse |
Future Perfect |
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I will have confused | you will have confused | he/she/it will have confused | we will have confused | you will have confused | they will have confused |
Future Continuous |
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I will be confusing | you will be confusing | he/she/it will be confusing | we will be confusing | you will be confusing | they will be confusing |
Present Perfect Continuous |
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I have been confusing | you have been confusing | he/she/it has been confusing | we have been confusing | you have been confusing | they have been confusing |
Future Perfect Continuous |
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I will have been confusing | you will have been confusing | he/she/it will have been confusing | we will have been confusing | you will have been confusing | they will have been confusing |
Past Perfect Continuous |
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I had been confusing | you had been confusing | he/she/it had been confusing | we had been confusing | you had been confusing | they had been confusing |
Conditional |
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I would confuse | you would confuse | he/she/it would confuse | we would confuse | you would confuse | they would confuse |
Past Conditional |
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I would have confused | you would have confused | he/she/it would have confused | we would have confused | you would have confused | they would have confused | ThesaurusVerb | 1. | confuse - mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary"confoundmisidentify, mistake - identify incorrectly; "Don't mistake her for her twin sister"obnubilate, obscure, blur, confuse - make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions"mix up, jumble, confuse - assemble without order or sense; "She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence" | | 2. | confuse - be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher"befuddle, confound, discombobulate, fox, bedevil, fuddle, throwdemoralize - confuse or put into disorder; "the boss's behavior demoralized everyone in the office"bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, baffle, mystify, nonplus, perplex, puzzle, stupefy, amaze, gravel, vex, pose, stick, beat, get - be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This question really stuck me"disconcert, flurry, confuse, put off - cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her"disorient, disorientate - cause to be lost or disorientedbe - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" | | 3. | confuse - cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her"disconcert, flurry, put offbefuddle, confound, confuse, discombobulate, fox, bedevil, fuddle, throw - be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher"fluster - cause to be nervous or upsetbother - make confused or perplexed or puzzleddistract, deflect - draw someone's attention away from something; "The thief distracted the bystanders"; "He deflected his competitors"abash, embarrass - cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious | | 4. | confuse - assemble without order or sense; "She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence"mix up, jumbleconfuse, confound - mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary"addle, muddle, puddle - mix up or confuse; "He muddled the issues"assemble, put together, tack together, set up, piece, tack - create by putting components or members together; "She pieced a quilt"; "He tacked together some verses"; "They set up a committee" | | 5. | confuse - make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions"obnubilate, obscure, bluralter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"confuse, confound - mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary"muddy - cause to become muddy; "These data would have muddied the prediction" |
confuseverb1. mix up with, take for, mistake for, muddle with I can't see how anyone could confuse you two with each other.2. bewilder, puzzle, baffle, perplex, mystify, fluster, faze, flummox, bemuse, be all Greek to (informal), nonplus Politics just confuses me.3. obscure, cloud, complicate, muddle, darken, make more difficult, muddy the waters His critics accused him of trying to confuse the issue.confuseverb1. To cause to be unclear in mind or intent:addle, befuddle, bewilder, confound, discombobulate, dizzy, fuddle, jumble, mix up, muddle, mystify, perplex, puzzle.Informal: throw.Idiom: make one's head reel.2. To cause (a person) to be self-consciously distressed:abash, chagrin, confound, discomfit, discomfort, disconcert, discountenance, embarrass, faze, mortify.Idioms: put on the spot, throw for a loop.3. To take (one thing) mistakenly for another:confound, mistake, mix up.4. To put into total disorder:ball up, disorder, jumble, mess up, muddle, scramble, snarl.Slang: snafu.Idiom: play havoc with.Translationsconfuse (kənˈfjuːz) verb1. to put in disorder. He confused the arrangements by arriving late. 打亂,弄亂 使混乱2. to mix up in one's mind. I always confuse John and his twin brother. 混淆 混淆3. to make puzzled. He completely confused me by his questions. 把...弄糊塗 把...弄糊涂conˈfused adjective1. mixed up. The message I received was rather confused. 混淆的 混乱的2. mixed up in the mind. in a confused state of mind. 被弄糊塗的 弄糊涂的conˈfusedly (-zidli) adverb 混淆不清地 混乱地conˈfusion (-ʒən) noun 混亂(狀態),混淆,困惑 混乱,混淆,困惑 confuse
confuse the issueTo obfuscate or distract from the topic at hand by introducing irrelevant and/or misleading information. Politicians are always confusing the issue during debates by pointing out their opponents' history in other issues. Don't confuse the issue with talk about your past achievements, please stick to the question I'm asking you. His muddled explanation only served to confuse the issue further for his students.See also: confuse, issueconfuse about (something)To puzzle or make uncertain about something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "confuse" and "about." I wasn't trying to confuse my students about sine and cosine, but it seems that I have. I'm sorry I'm so early—I must have been confused about the party's start time.See also: confuseconfuse (someone or something) with (someone or something)1. To puzzle or perplex a person or animal by doing something in particular. I wasn't trying to confuse my students with my lesson on sine and cosine, but it seems that I have. If you're not consistent, you'll just end up confusing your dog with your commands.2. To mistake someone or something for someone or something else. People are always confusing me with my sister because we look so much alike. Oh, I'm not a biology major—you must be confusing me with my roommate. Please don't confuse the pile of clothes I'm donating with the pile of ones I'm keeping.See also: confuseconfuse someone about somethingto cause someone to be puzzled or bewildered about something. She confused me about the time of the concert. I wish you wouldn't confuse me about those things.See also: confuseconfuse someone or an animal with somethingto use something to bewilder or confuse someone or an animal. You have confused me with your clever talk. You confused the dog with your orders.See also: animal, confuseconfuse (someone) with (someone else) and confuse (something) with (something else)to mix someone up with someone else; to mistake someone or something with something else. I'm afraid you have confused me with my brother. Don't confuse the old ones with the new ones.See also: confusemistake (someone) for (someone else) and mix (someone) up with (someone else)to confuse someone with someone else; to think that one person is another person. I'm sorry. I mistook you for John. Tom is always mistaking Bill for me. We don't look a thing alike, though. Try not to mix Bill up with Bob, his twin.See also: mistakemistake (something) for (something else) and mix (something) up with (something else)to confuse two things with each other. Please don't mix this idea up with that one. I mistook my book for yours.See also: mistakemistake forTake someone or something for someone or something else, as in I'm sorry, I mistook you for her sister, or Don't mistake that friendly smile for good intentions; he's a tough competitor. [c. 1600] See also: mistakemistake forv. To wrongly perceive that someone or something is someone or something else: I'm sorry to have bothered you—I mistook you for a friend of mine. Don't mistake the poison ivy for a box elder vine!See also: mistakeEncyclopediaSeeconfusionconfuse
Synonyms for confuseverb mix up withSynonyms- mix up with
- take for
- mistake for
- muddle with
verb bewilderSynonyms- bewilder
- puzzle
- baffle
- perplex
- mystify
- fluster
- faze
- flummox
- bemuse
- be all Greek to
- nonplus
verb obscureSynonyms- obscure
- cloud
- complicate
- muddle
- darken
- make more difficult
- muddy the waters
Synonyms for confuseverb to cause to be unclear in mind or intentSynonyms- addle
- befuddle
- bewilder
- confound
- discombobulate
- dizzy
- fuddle
- jumble
- mix up
- muddle
- mystify
- perplex
- puzzle
- throw
verb to cause (a person) to be self-consciously distressedSynonyms- abash
- chagrin
- confound
- discomfit
- discomfort
- disconcert
- discountenance
- embarrass
- faze
- mortify
verb to take (one thing) mistakenly for anotherSynonymsverb to put into total disorderSynonyms- ball up
- disorder
- jumble
- mess up
- muddle
- scramble
- snarl
- snafu
Synonyms for confuseverb mistake one thing for anotherSynonymsRelated Words- misidentify
- mistake
- obnubilate
- obscure
- blur
- confuse
- mix up
- jumble
verb be confusing or perplexing toSynonyms- befuddle
- confound
- discombobulate
- fox
- bedevil
- fuddle
- throw
Related Words- demoralize
- bewilder
- dumbfound
- flummox
- baffle
- mystify
- nonplus
- perplex
- puzzle
- stupefy
- amaze
- gravel
- vex
- pose
- stick
- beat
- get
- disconcert
- flurry
- confuse
- put off
- disorient
- disorientate
- be
verb cause to feel embarrassmentSynonymsRelated Words- befuddle
- confound
- confuse
- discombobulate
- fox
- bedevil
- fuddle
- throw
- fluster
- bother
- distract
- deflect
- abash
- embarrass
verb assemble without order or senseSynonymsRelated Words- confuse
- confound
- addle
- muddle
- puddle
- assemble
- put together
- tack together
- set up
- piece
- tack
verb make unclear, indistinct, or blurredSynonymsRelated Words- alter
- change
- modify
- confuse
- confound
- muddy
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