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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
One among them was scoring on floaters, on step-back 3s, in the midrange and at the rim, a player who missed all but two games the season before with a confounding ankle injury that eventually required surgery.
—
Joe Vardon, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
To make sure there weren’t other confounding factors, researchers accounted for things such as how often the participants sought medical care.
—Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2025
The bond market is in turmoil, with the 10-year benchmark U.S. Treasury yield surging past 4.5% at one point this week in a confounding move for investors, one that many speculated led to Trump’s tariff reversal.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 11 Apr. 2025
Importantly, the two groups, only a few weeks apart in age, were not expected to differ significantly from one another, which would reduce the probability of confounding variables.
—New Atlas, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confound
Joe Vardon, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2025
To make sure there weren’t other confounding factors, researchers accounted for things such as how often the participants sought medical care.
—Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 16 Apr. 2025
The bond market is in turmoil, with the 10-year benchmark U.S. Treasury yield surging past 4.5% at one point this week in a confounding move for investors, one that many speculated led to Trump’s tariff reversal.
—Sarah Min, CNBC, 11 Apr. 2025
Importantly, the two groups, only a few weeks apart in age, were not expected to differ significantly from one another, which would reduce the probability of confounding variables.
—New Atlas, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confound
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confound
Verb
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All of the footage from The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon makes the show-within-a-show look silly, which the series confuses with humorousness.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2025
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While no one should ever have confused the entertainment business with a warm binkie, the institutions themselves are in the new and awkward spot of having to justify their existence.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
12 May 2025
Verb
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Johnson’s predecessor, Larry Robinson, resigned last year amid fallout from a fake $237 million donation scandal that embarrassed the school on the national stage.—
Garrett Shanley,
Miami Herald,
17 May 2025
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What’s made the 18th so fun this week is its ability — even for just a second — to embarrass the best golfers on the planet.—
Jordan Kaye,
Charlotte Observer,
17 May 2025
Verb
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Depardieu has repeatedly refuted both accounts saying his actions had been misinterpreted.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
13 May 2025
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What To Know In response, Baraka appeared on CNN's The Source With Kaitlan Collins, refuting Habba's claims.—
Emma Marsden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 May 2025
Verb
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Multiple current and former FDA officials said they were perplexed by Makary's claim, given the push for longer trips in the past had been an efficiency measure intended to result in the agency being able to complete more inspections.—
Paula Cohen,
CBS News,
6 May 2025
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Archaeologists were perplexed by a strange pair of discs found in Oman – only to discover these items were actually a single 4,000-year-old instrument.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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But in April, the state’s Court of Appeals, which has a Republican majority, issued a three-sentence decision overturning the lower court’s ruling without hearing oral arguments.—
Doug Bock Clark,
ProPublica,
16 May 2025
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Those fighting Trump's order say 150 years of judicial precedent will be overturned should the birthright order be allowed to go into effect.—
Dan Gooding,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
Verb
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These reactions are just the tip of the iceberg, as the football world continues to be bewildered at Sanders being available heading into the fourth round on Saturday.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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Across the street, her husband Steve, who nursed Molly through her first fight with breast cancer a few years earlier, sits bewildered in the office of their couples therapist.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The attempts to discredit women like Ventura discount the reality of their lives, Gee said.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
13 May 2025
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But in a possible attempt to discredit Pryor, her name and some details of her confidential complaint, available only to the mayor, commissioners and senior city employees, have been circulated publicly.—
Steve Bousquet,
Sun Sentinel,
10 May 2025
Verb
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Some were baffled by Perry’s dancing and said the show looked cheap.—
Courtney Lane,
Kansas City Star,
11 May 2025
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The complexities of her character mirrored in her stony, resentful stare, in her grim, unforgiving mouth, will always baffle and enthrall.—
E.R. Zarevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
7 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confound.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confound. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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