confusion
- 1The state of being unable to understand something clearly, or of misunderstanding a situation.
The new instructions caused widespread confusion among the staff.
There was some confusion over whether the meeting had been canceled.
Similarbewilderment, uncertainty, puzzlement, perplexity, misunderstanding
Oppositeclarity, understanding, certainty, comprehension
Note
Here the disorder is in the mind rather than in the room. That is what separates it from the sense of chaotic disorder. It usually takes no plural, but the plural is available when single muddled thoughts are meant. Tennyson, in In Memoriam (1850), asks pardon for his "wild and wandering cries, / Confusions of a wasted youth."
- 2A lack of clarity or order; a disorganized or chaotic state of affairs.
The sudden alarm threw the office into confusion.
In the confusion of the evacuation, several bags were left behind.
Similarchaos, disorder, turmoil, disarray, commotion
Oppositeorder, calm, orderliness, organization
- 3The act of mistaking one thing for another, or treating distinct things as if they were the same.
The similar logos led to constant confusion between the two companies.
Careful labeling prevents confusion of the samples in the lab.
Similarmix-up, muddle, conflation, misidentification
Oppositedistinction, differentiation
Note
Here two distinct things are treated as one, the kind of slip that dictionaries themselves stop to explain. James A. H. Murray's New English Dictionary (1908) traces the confusion of lay and lie to lay sharing its form with the past tense of lie. The usual construction is confusion of one thing and another. What follows of is what gets mixed up, not the person who is mixed up.
- 4A loss of clear understanding and awareness caused by dementia or similar cognitive decline.
The doctor attributed the patient's confusion to advancing dementia.
Episodes of confusion became more frequent as her condition progressed.
Similardisorientation
- 5A herd of wildebeest considered together as a single group.
Like a 'pride' of lions or a 'pack' of wolves, but for wildebeest.
A confusion of wildebeest stampeded across the savanna at dusk.
Tourists photographed a vast confusion of wildebeest grazing near the water hole.
Similarherd
Note
Here the word counts and takes of plus the animal: a confusion of wildebeest, and several confusions of them. It belongs with gaggle and conspiracy among the more bizarre-sounding collective names for animals, the kind collected for their oddity. In plain description, herd remains the ordinary choice.
Less common meaning
- 6A state of shame, embarrassment, or abashment.
Like wanting to hide your face after being caught in a mistake.
Overcome with confusion, she could not meet the gaze of the assembled guests.
He stammered his thanks in evident confusion.
Note
Older fiction uses the word for the confusion of a face rather than a mind. In Henry Fielding's Tom Jones (1749), Sophia's face is "overspread with blushes and confusion," and she answers "in a stammering voice." That is embarrassment, not puzzlement. When confusion stands beside blushes in older prose, read it this way. In modern writing, say embarrassed or abashed, since today's readers will hear bewilderment.
Practice
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Origin
The word came into Middle English as confusioun, from Old French confusion, which came from Latin confusio (confusionem). It is formed from confuse plus the suffix -ion.