confusion
/kənˈfjuːʒ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1Uncertainty about what is happening, intended, or required: there seems to be some confusion about which system does what he cleared up the confusion over the party’s policy...
- There will also be psychological confusion about such happenings.
- However, there is uncertainty and confusion about the nature and purpose of global education.
- This reflects a moral uncertainty and confusion about the war more than it does the reality of danger on the ground.
Synonyms
uncertainty, lack of certainty, unsureness, indecision, hesitation, hesitancy, scepticism, doubt, ignorance
rare dubiety, incertitude
1.1A situation of panic or disorder: the guaranteed income bond market was thrown into confusion...
- The knights on the bridge behind were thrown into confusion, panicked, and retreated.
- Even in these testing situations, panic and confusion ran high when someone hit the water.
- That's the way to create the impression of confusion, panic and chaos.
Synonyms
disorder, disarray, disorganization, disorderliness, untidiness, chaos, mayhem, bedlam, pandemonium, madness, havoc, turmoil, tumult, commotion, disruption, upheaval, furore, frenzy, uproar, babel, hurly-burly, maelstrom, muddle, mess, shambles;
a mare's nest, anarchy, entropy
informal hullabaloo, all hell broken loose, a madhouse
North American informal a three-ring circus
rare disarrangement
1.2 [in singular] A disorderly jumble: all I can see is a confusion of brown cardboard boxes...
- Then I got tangled in a confusion of traffic jams, roadworks, diversions and obscure road signs.
- Breath tumbles invisibly between the teeth, a confusion of molecules.
- This is a complicated text in which time and space overlap, while images and metaphors intertwine, resulting in a confusion of characters and places.
Synonyms
jumble, muddle, mess, heap, tangle, entanglement, tumble, welter, litter, shambles
2The state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something: she looked about her in confusion...
- They were both breathing quickly and her mind was outrageous in confusion and wonder.
- ‘Thanks,’ she said before she disappeared out the door in the back, mind whirling in confusion.
- They grow up in confusion and bewilderment as children, then often pass into denial as young adults and sometimes remain frightened even into old age.
Synonyms
bewilderment, bafflement, perplexity, puzzlement, mystification, stupefaction, disorientation, befuddlement, muddle;
discomfiture, discomposure, shock, daze, devastation;
wonder, wonderment, astonishment
informal bamboozlement, discombobulation
rare disconcertment, disconcertion
2.1The mistaking of one person or thing for another: there is some confusion between ‘unlawful’ and ‘illegal’ [count noun]: most of the errors are reasonable confusions between similar words...
- The moral confusion created by mistaking preferences for moral judgements has brought a note of hysteria into the consideration of modern Scotland and its complex moral issues.
- It leads to confusion when credentials are mistaken for credibility, or competence for character.
- These efforts flow from a fundamental error - confusion between two very distinct constitutional realms.
Origin
Middle English: from Latin confusio(n-), from the verb confundere 'mingle together' (see confuse).