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

Opponents of access to reproductive care are trying to conflate the two—a dangerous cocktail of misinformation. — Macaela Mackenzie, Glamour, "If Title X Disappears, More Than 22 Million Women Will Live in Contraceptive Deserts," 9 May 2019 Experts widely believe the president conflated two unrelated issues. — Politifact, Teen Vogue, "Trump's Lies and Misleading Claims Have Grown in Volume Since the Start of the Presidency," 22 Aug. 2018 Trump has repeatedly attacked Amazon and its owner, Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, often conflating the two. — Ryan Teague Beckwith, Time, "President Trump Attacked Amazon Again. But He Got This Basic Fact Wrong," 3 Apr. 2018 The president also incorrectly conflated Amazon with The Post and made clear that his attacks on the retailer were inspired by his disdain for the newspaper’s coverage. — Philip Rucker, BostonGlobe.com, "Trump escalates attack on Amazon, accuses company of ‘Post Office scam’," 31 Mar. 2018 Policies regarding asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors crossing the border and families being separated at the border have become conflated in recent weeks. — USA TODAY, "A reporter made Sarah Sanders' voice break. He's 13.," 30 May 2018 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

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

4 Jun 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

assiduous

showing great care, attention, and effort

Test Your Vocabulary

Finance Words Quiz

The etymology of mortgage is related most closely to which two words?

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

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

TAKE THE QUIZ