confuse

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make someone unable to think clearly or understand something.

   It confused me when I arrived at the office and nobody was there.

2. 2
   verb

   To mistake one person or thing for another.

   People often confuse the two brothers because they look so alike.

3. 3
   verb

   To make something harder to understand or less clear.

   Their conflicting remarks only confused the debate.

Back-formation from confused, from Middle English confused (“frustrated, ruined”), from Anglo-Norman confus, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundō.

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