1
as in to confuse
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
we were confounded by the player's remote control, which wasn't at all user-friendly
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to embarrass
to throw into a state of self-conscious distress
his renewed popularity has confounded the critics who said his singing career was dead
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3
as in to conflate
to fail to differentiate (a thing) from something similar or related
I think you've confounded astrology with astronomy
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4
as in to refute
to prove to be false
new discoveries that confound much of what archaeologists thought they knew about the Mayan civilization
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of confound
The cost aspects are hard to pin down since there are so many conflicting and confounding variables that come into the picture when determining costs for any kind of generative AI.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
So there’s a basic fact-check element that can be time consuming and occasionally confounding.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
Although the existence of Log Cabin Republicans has confounded many in the broader LGBTQ+ community since the organization was founded in 1977, the participation of some gay conservatives in the MAGA movement has been particularly macabre.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 27 Mar. 2025
There's a lot of confounding factors that might influence whether someone gets pulled over and cited, like their gender, the make of their car, and so on.
—Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confound
Lance Eliot, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025
So there’s a basic fact-check element that can be time consuming and occasionally confounding.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
Although the existence of Log Cabin Republicans has confounded many in the broader LGBTQ+ community since the organization was founded in 1977, the participation of some gay conservatives in the MAGA movement has been particularly macabre.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 27 Mar. 2025
There's a lot of confounding factors that might influence whether someone gets pulled over and cited, like their gender, the make of their car, and so on.
—Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confound
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confound
Verb
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No one was going to confuse Colossal with the Sierra Club.—
D. T. Max,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Let go of a common misconception Some parents worry that teaching their child multiple languages will set them back or confuse them.—
Julia Furlan,
NPR,
5 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Mariah Carey just pulled a classic mom move by embarrassing her teenage son in front of his friends.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
5 Apr. 2025
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The leaking was intended to embarrass Bork, whose nomination was ultimately rejected by the U.S. Senate albeit for reasons unrelated to his rental list.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Trump’s own Social Security chief eventually refuted the claim.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2025
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Khalil refuted those characterizations before and after his detention.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Multiple voices in one hand blended into fistfuls of color, and perplexing emphases on accompaniment figures served to distract, rather than elucidate, the musical argument.—
Luke Schulze,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
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Dahl was especially perplexed by the response to Evans’s fall.—
Ronan Farrow,
The New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2025
Verb
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He was released after a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the kidnapping and killing of Camarena.—
Greg Norman,
FOXNews.com,
10 Apr. 2025
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The decision overturned a lower court ruling that had required their reinstatement, supporting Trump's efforts to downsize the federal workforce.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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That’s all bewildering plot-wise, but Morrison also bewilders readers through language.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2025
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This match exposed a couple of ugly issues the tour has to address and left spectators bewildered for long stretches at a time.—
Todd Boss,
Forbes,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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His tariffs were not based on the import taxes charged by other countries but by the size of each trade deficit, a calculation that instantly discredited the policy with many economists and investors.—
Time,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
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Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit the election had already found allies abroad.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Two endangered whales are baffling researchers by continuing to show up along a stretch of U.S coast that is not part of their turf, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
9 Apr. 2025
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The haphazard cuts to major projects in red states like Ohio baffled some stakeholders.—
Ella Nilsen,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confound.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confound. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
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