conflate

verb

con·flate | \ kən-ˈflāt

How to pronounce conflate (audio)

\

conflated; conflating

Definition of conflate

transitive verb

1a : to bring together : fuse

b : confuse

2 : to combine (things, such as two readings of a text) into a composite whole The editor conflated the two texts. … a city of conflated races and cultures …— Earl Shorris

Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about conflate

Keep scrolling for more

Did You Know?

We're not just blowing hot air when we tell you that conflate can actually be traced back to the same roots as the English verb blow. Conflate derives from conflatus, the past participle of the Latin verb conflare ("to blow together, to fuse"), which was formed by combining the prefix com- with the verb flare, meaning "to blow." The source of Latin flare is the same ancient root word that gave us blow. Other descendants of flare in English include afflatus ("a divine imparting of knowledge or power"), inflate, insufflation ("an act of blowing"), and flageolet (a kind of small flute-the flageolet referring to a green kidney bean is unrelated).

Examples of conflate in a Sentence

be careful not to conflate gossip with real news the movie conflates documentary footage and dramatized reenactments so seamlessly and ingeniously that viewers may not know what is real and what is not

Recent Examples on the Web

They are sometimes conflated and assigned importance beyond their era. — Jeffrey Fleishman, latimes.com, "Rage and wonder in 1968: The year war came through the TV and I felt pieces of childhood ending," 20 Apr. 2018 New and old memories can be conflated, sometimes emerging as totally false memories. — Richard B. Mckenzie, WSJ, "A Stumble Down Memory Lane," 24 Sep. 2018 Many experts say that General Nicholson’s data may be conflated. — Helene Cooper, New York Times, "U.S. Braces for Return of Terrorist Safe Havens to Afghanistan," 12 Mar. 2018 While reading Florida, try resist the urge to conflate Groff with this figure. — refinery29.com, "No, Lauren Groff Isn't Writing About Herself In Florida," 15 June 2018 Hard to know; records are fragmentary and conflated with myth. — William Meyers, WSJ, "‘Dawoud Bey: Night Coming Tenderly, Black’ Review: Out of Darkness," 14 Jan. 2019 But the campaign against ICE may be conflating an alphabet soup of government agencies and their various roles in immigration enforcement. — Linda Qiu, New York Times, "What Is ICE and Why Do Critics Want to Abolish It?," 3 July 2018 Another algae problem plagues Florida’s waterways, Murawski said, and confused and frustrated people are conflating the two. — Tamara Lush, The Seattle Times, "Devastating toxic algae bloom plagues Florida’s Gulf Coast," 14 Aug. 2018 There’s a longstanding tradition in America of conflating sporting prowess and religious identity. — Tara Isabella Burton, Vox, "What one pastor’s anti-Nike protest says about religion and nationalism in America," 14 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conflate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about conflate

Listen to Our Podcast about conflate

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near conflate

Statistics for conflate

Last Updated

12 Mar 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for conflate

The first known use of conflate was in 1610

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

writhe

to move or proceed with twists and turns

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Latin Quiz

Which of the following months comes from a Latin word for “ten”?

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ