as in perplexing
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1
as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
we were confounded by the player's remote control, which wasn't at all user-friendly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in embarrassing
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 confusing
to fail to differentiate (a thing) from something similar or related
I think you've confounded astrology with astronomy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in refuting
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 confounding
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Brian Mahoney, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
The ball—true to Brown’s original design—is always humming around at high speed, finding the right man and confounding the defenses that the team’s sheer force keeps demoralizing.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 2 June 2026
The study also used patients who had not taken migraine preventive medications for at least the past three months, Anderson noted, reducing the potential confounding variable of medication use.
—Stephanie Anderson Witmer, Health, 2 June 2026
Doing so aids in minimizing confounding variables.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
This has resulted in a somewhat confounding couple of seasons where possession has seemed to lose its edge.
—Jon MacKenzie, New York Times, 27 May 2026
Those outlooks have grappled with a confounding mixture of warm ocean temperatures (which can feed hurricane activity) and a brewing El Niño (which can suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic).
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Meanwhile, King was confounding Dodgers hitters just as badly.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
Asghar Farhadi’s confounding new film, Parallel Tales, takes place in a pair of apartments located across the street from each other in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Adjective
Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
His appearance as the first sitting president at an NBA Finals game brought a crackdown on security with checkpoints, magnetometers and street closures confounding fans, commuters and tourists.
—Brian Mahoney, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
The ball—true to Brown’s original design—is always humming around at high speed, finding the right man and confounding the defenses that the team’s sheer force keeps demoralizing.
—Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 2 June 2026
The study also used patients who had not taken migraine preventive medications for at least the past three months, Anderson noted, reducing the potential confounding variable of medication use.
—Stephanie Anderson Witmer, Health, 2 June 2026
Doing so aids in minimizing confounding variables.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026
This has resulted in a somewhat confounding couple of seasons where possession has seemed to lose its edge.
—Jon MacKenzie, New York Times, 27 May 2026
Those outlooks have grappled with a confounding mixture of warm ocean temperatures (which can feed hurricane activity) and a brewing El Niño (which can suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic).
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Meanwhile, King was confounding Dodgers hitters just as badly.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
Asghar Farhadi’s confounding new film, Parallel Tales, takes place in a pair of apartments located across the street from each other in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confounding
Adjective
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In their last two losses, the Valkyries have struggled against athletic players like Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson and Minnesota’s Natasha Howard, which makes Amihere’s lack of playing time perplexing.—
Nathan Canilao,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
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Despite the thriving community Sacramento FrontRunners is building, the group has not yet managed to overcome one perplexing problem — building membership among women.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
8 June 2026
Verb
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For more than four minutes Darnold drove downfield, connecting on three of four passes, baffling the pass rushers, bleeding the clock, and by the time the Seahawks finally gave the ball back, the Rams had only 25 seconds to live.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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Though some of the recent playoff defeats have been baffling and call for self-evaluation within the organization, the culture has been a huge net positive overall.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Then to Sydney Harbour, the very scene of that embarrassing capsize exactly a year earlier, and the Americans won the event outright for a first win since October 2023.—
Andrew Rice,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
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Lutnick's voluntary closed-door interview comes amid a monthslong procession of powerful people summoned before the committee, many of whom have been subjected to embarrassing revelations in the more than 3 million pages of records known as the Epstein files.—
Graham Kates,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
Verb
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Cancers can release this protein into the tumor microenvironment, where the molecule attaches to the T cells and change their ability to communicate with other cells, confusing the T cells and restricting their ability to survive and kill cancer.—
Charles J. Dimitroff,
The Conversation,
12 June 2026
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While the numbers, nutrients, and ingredient lists may seem confusing at first, learning how to read nutrition labels can tell you a lot about what’s actually in the food.—
Amy Brownstein,
Verywell Health,
10 June 2026
Verb
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Anne Hathaway is refuting online speculation over whether she's had a facelift.—
Sharareh Drury,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 May 2026
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King’s break with Johnson was not about refuting his historic contributions.—
Mark Conway,
Baltimore Sun,
9 May 2026
Adjective
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However, another round of lawsuits was somewhat puzzling.—
Doug Gollan,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
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But for Democrats, the aversion may seem more puzzling.—
Andrew Cockburn,
Harpers Magazine,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Similarly, the defensively bewildering 9-6 loss the Wild suffered to start Round 2 in Colorado set the tone for five games that would ultimately be their undoing.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
3 June 2026
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But even more than engaging the big ideas that Emma’s revelation triggers — pun somewhat intended — Lee and Borli wanted to craft an experience that would mimic its main characters’ bewildering interiority.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This imbalance is perhaps not expressly disconcerting much of the time.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
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There was also some disconcerting history to consider.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
17 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confounding. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
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