confound

verb

con·found | \kən-ˈfau̇nd,

kän-\

confounded; confounding; confounds

Definition of confound

transitive verb

1a archaic : to bring to ruin : destroy

b : baffle, frustrate Conferences … are not for accomplishment but to confound knavish tricks.— John Kenneth Galbraith

2 obsolete : consume, waste

3a : to put to shame : discomfit a performance that confounded the critics

b : refute sought to confound his arguments

4 : damn

5 : to throw (a person) into confusion or perplexity tactics to confound the enemy

6a : to fail to discern differences between : mix up They implored Charles not to confound the innocent with the guilty …— T. B. Macaulay

b : to increase the confusion of

Other Words from confound Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about confound

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Other Words from confound

confounder \kən-ˈfau̇n-dər,

kän- \ noun

confoundingly \kən-ˈfau̇n-diŋ-lē,

kän- \ adverb

Choose the Right Synonym for confound

puzzle, perplex, bewilder, distract, nonplus, confound, dumbfound mean to baffle and disturb mentally. puzzle implies existence of a problem difficult to solve. the persistent fever puzzled the doctor perplex adds a suggestion of worry and uncertainty especially about making a necessary decision. a behavior that perplexed her friends bewilder stresses a confusion of mind that hampers clear and decisive thinking. a bewildering number of possibilities distract implies agitation or uncertainty induced by conflicting preoccupations or interests. distracted by personal problems nonplus implies a bafflement that makes orderly planning or deciding impossible. the remark left us utterly nonplussed confound implies temporary mental paralysis caused by astonishment or profound abasement. the tragic news confounded us all dumbfound suggests intense but momentary confounding; often the idea of astonishment is so stressed that it becomes a near synonym of astound. was at first too dumbfounded to reply

Examples of confound in a Sentence

The strategy confounded our opponents. The murder case has confounded investigators. The school's team confounded all predictions and won the game. The success of the show confounded critics.

Recent Examples on the Web

President Trump was due to speak Tuesday to Republican members of Congress on the issue, which has confounded both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue for a generation. — Shane Harris, Anchorage Daily News, "Fight over detained children intensifies," 18 June 2018 It's built on malignant illusions that are meant to confound you, but serve only to rob the game of both drama and substance. — Julie Muncy, WIRED, "All Games Are Illusions, But Far Cry 5 Is Nothing More," 9 Apr. 2018 What really confounds him and other Wall Street bankers about the case against AT&T is that there has not been a peep made by the government about Disney’s pending acquisition of 21st Century Fox. — William D. Cohan, The Hive, "“It’s So Transparently Ridiculous”: Wall Street Groans as Its M&A Future Hangs on Trump’s Sham AT&T Trial," 29 Mar. 2018 Huizenga was most comfortable deferring to the experts in the field running his teams, but criticism found him and confounded him. — Mike Clary, Sun-Sentinel.com, "H. Wayne Huizenga, South Florida business titan, dead at 80," 23 Mar. 2018 Such is the confounding paradox inherent to many of today’s big tech companies, which promise private, free communication tools while monitoring everything their users do. — Jacob Silverman, Longreads, "Private Telegram, Public Strife," 3 July 2018 Having a control group — a set of comparable hospitals that, over the same period of time, did not receive the checklist — could have tested for these confounding factors. — Ike Swetlitz, STAT, "Inside Ariadne Labs, Atul Gawande’s testing ground for new ideas in health care," 27 June 2018 Those gathered said dog shows like Detroit's are convivial for a general audience, despite their sometimes confounding conventions. — Matthew Dolan, Detroit Free Press, "Prized pooches pampered, praised at Detroit Kennel Club annual show," 24 June 2018 TechCrunch previously reported that this convenient feature — and small semblance of order for Instagram’s confounding feed — was on the way. — Chris Welch, The Verge, "Instagram will now tell you when you’ve seen all posts from the last two days," 2 July 2018

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