conflicted

1. 1
   adjectivecolloquialCanadaUS

   Torn between opposing feelings or desires and unable to settle on a single course.

   Like a compass needle that keeps swinging between two points and never settles.

   Voters seemed conflicted about the proposal, drawn to its goals but wary of its cost.

   She remained conflicted for weeks, unsure whether to forgive him.

   Similartorn, ambivalent, divided, undecided, uncertain

   Oppositedecided, certain, sure, resolute

   Note

   A North American usage, and an informal one, at home in Canadian and US speech. It follows linking verbs such as feel, be and remain, and it takes about before a noun or a whether clause: conflicted about her relationship with my family, conflicted about whether he liked me. It grades like any adjective (more conflicted, most conflicted). In formal writing, a less casual word may suit better.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of conflict.

   The witness statements conflicted on several key details.

   Her account has conflicted with the official record from the very start.

   Note

   The plain verb form usually travels with with. Jan Morris writes that Lawrence "conflicted with British bureaucratic fustiness." Conflict is intransitive, whether it means being at odds or overlapping the way two appointments do. So the participle builds perfects with have (the dates have conflicted) and almost never passives. The same spelling also serves as an adjective, the "torn" feeling, which describes a person rather than an event.

3. 3
   adjectivenonstandard

   Having interests or loyalties that make it improper to act impartially in a given matter.

   Like an investor asked to give neutral advice about a company they secretly own.

   The auditor recused herself, conflicted by her shares in the firm she was reviewing.

   Lawmakers who are conflicted must disclose their financial ties before voting.

   Oppositedisinterested, impartial, independent, unbiased

   Note

   Usage critics object to this shorthand, so careful writers avoid it. The trouble is ambiguity: "a conflicted judge" could just as easily mean one torn by inner doubt as one with a stake in the case. Spelling it out removes the doubt and the objection together: has a conflict of interest, or name the interest itself.

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