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confused

kuhn-FYOOZD/kənˈfjuːzd/

6 meanings of confused

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  1. 1
    adjective
    Not able to think clearly or understand what is happening.

    Like trying to find your way in thick fog.

    I was confused by the new math homework.

    Grandpa gets confused when too many people talk at once.

    Similarbewildered, puzzled, baffled, perplexed, befuddled

    Oppositelucid, clear-headed, alert

    Note
  2. 2
    adjective
    Not sure where you are or which way to go.

    Like spinning around with your eyes closed and then trying to walk in a straight line.

    The hikers got confused in the dark and walked the wrong way.

    She woke up confused, not knowing what time it was.

    Similardisoriented, lost, bewildered, muddled, befuddled

    Oppositeoriented, clear-headed, alert

  3. 3
    adjective
    Mixed up, messy, and without any clear order.

    Like a drawer where socks, papers, and toys are all thrown in together.

    The papers on his desk were a confused pile.

    The game ended in a confused mess of shouting players.

    Similarchaotic, jumbled, muddled, disorganized, disordered

    Oppositeorderly, organized, clear, systematic

  4. 4
    adjective
    Not making sense, with ideas that do not fit together.

    His explanation was so confused that nobody knew what he meant.

    The movie's story was confused, and I gave up trying to follow it.

    Similarincoherent, muddled, illogical, garbled, unclear

    Oppositecoherent, logical, lucid, clear

  5. 5
    verb
    Past tense and past participle of confuse. Use this form for things that happened in the past.

    The signs confused us, and we took the wrong road.

    The teacher's fast talking confused the new students.

    Note
  6. 6
    adjective
    Feeling shy and uncomfortable because of something that happened.

    She turned red and looked confused when everyone sang to her.

    When the teacher praised him in front of the class, he went pink and confused and could not look up.

    Similarflustered, embarrassed, abashed, disconcerted

    Oppositecomposed, calm, collected, poised

    Note

confused is a form of confuse

confuse, verb: To make someone unable to think clearly or understand something. Full entry

Forms
confuseconfuses he/she/itconfusing -ing formconfused past tense, past participle
Spelling
confuse → confused: add -d
Sound
The ending sounds like /d/.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of confused apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This comes from an old Middle English word meaning "frustrated, ruined," which came through French from Latin cōnfūsus, the past participle of cōnfundō.