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
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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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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
Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
Following those highs came a string of solid but unexciting records, which mostly stuck with Metric’s formula while adding the occasional left-field lyric about the Kool-Aid-drinking masses or confounding reference to QAnon.
—Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026
Oettinger, 27, is another confounding case.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 May 2026
The pair combine their talents to unravel crime mysteries, confounding and surprising one another along the way, in classic odd couple style.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026
Plenty of confounding factors could still explain the results, so Mitra, Golder, and Topchy implemented a few controls.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026
Osmon’s cast of characters sometimes sprawls to confounding breadth, but her linchpin figures are Springsteen, Mellencamp, Seger, and Petty.
—Jack Hamilton, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
Kaplan mines Mitford’s own writings, her family letters and photos, plus archives to detail each phase of this multifaceted life, illuminating along the way her loves, losses, loyalties and confounding contradictions.
—The Know, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
Deaths from rectal cancer are rising rapidly among younger adults, an alarming trend that is confounding scientists trying to understand why millennials are so hard-hit.
—Erika Edwards, NBC news, 23 Apr. 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
Putting his legal woes aside, Jackson’s life outside of performing was often bizarre and confounding, making for potentially intriguing scenes.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
Following those highs came a string of solid but unexciting records, which mostly stuck with Metric’s formula while adding the occasional left-field lyric about the Kool-Aid-drinking masses or confounding reference to QAnon.
—Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026
Oettinger, 27, is another confounding case.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 May 2026
The pair combine their talents to unravel crime mysteries, confounding and surprising one another along the way, in classic odd couple style.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026
Plenty of confounding factors could still explain the results, so Mitra, Golder, and Topchy implemented a few controls.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026
Osmon’s cast of characters sometimes sprawls to confounding breadth, but her linchpin figures are Springsteen, Mellencamp, Seger, and Petty.
—Jack Hamilton, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
Kaplan mines Mitford’s own writings, her family letters and photos, plus archives to detail each phase of this multifaceted life, illuminating along the way her loves, losses, loyalties and confounding contradictions.
—The Know, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2026
Deaths from rectal cancer are rising rapidly among younger adults, an alarming trend that is confounding scientists trying to understand why millennials are so hard-hit.
—Erika Edwards, NBC news, 23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confounding
Adjective
-
The whole situation was perplexing.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Our universe is full of mysteries, but few are as perplexing as the dark, tiny galaxies that hover around larger ones like the Milky Way.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The slow starts are baffling to Becht.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
-
As the castle’s internal order collapses under the weight of a string of baffling crimes, Araki strikes a fragile alliance with Kuroda Kanbei – a razor-minded captive languishing in his own dungeon – in a race to root out a traitor before Oda’s army closes in.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
-
The Game 4 defeat – the no-silver-lining, embarrassing 6-1 loss – left a particularly rancid taste in everyone’s mouth.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Elegoo Jupiter 2 3D printer shows flashes of excellence with its massive build volume and striking print quality, but uneven automation, confusing UI menus, and a still-maturing workflow limit its appeal.—
Michael Lydick,
PC Magazine,
2 May 2026
-
Amanda Peet has had people confusing her for Lake Bell at restaurants, airports, red carpets and everywhere in between.—
Laura Lane,
PEOPLE,
1 May 2026
Verb
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That’s not refuting the secrecy.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
23 Apr. 2026
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Amidst the other claims, this one has hit hard at Beast Industries, and the company got quite personal in refuting it.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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League sources have whispered since late October that Mosley’s job could be in jeopardy, and although Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman declined to make an in-season coaching change despite several puzzling lopsided defeats, the Magic announced Mosley’s dismissal Monday.—
Josh Robbins,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
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However, the Echoes From the Past creators made the puzzling and terrifying artistic choice to have VR visitors ride outside the sub during the descent.—
Jordan Runtagh,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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
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There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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There was also some disconcerting history to consider.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
17 Apr. 2026
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There’s a lot of disconcerting news about AI in journalism lately.—
Theresa Gaffney,
STAT,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confounding. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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