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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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
Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
The offense’s struggles are the most confounding.
—Zach Berman, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
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
Jon Bream, Boston Herald, 22 Dec. 2025
Then came the explosive rushing attack that had been tantalizingly dormant for the majority of this confounding campaign.
—Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
The Panthers, meanwhile, have been a confounding club all season.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
The list of places to visit and people to meet grows ever longer, the pull of the Sonoran expanse confounding my oceanic island origins.
—Von Diaz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s peculiar transformation from a consistently productive NFL receiver to a virtual non-factor in the Dolphins’ passing game has been one of the confounding mysteries of Miami’s season.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Dec. 2025
Chicago is currently mired in a miserable seven-game losing streak, a confounding skid that includes defeats against NBA bottom-feeders like the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
By shuffling these more personal images with his own photographs of their rooms—draperies, windows, unmade beds, a shower stall—Xu constructs a fascinating if confounding new reality, a stage set destined to be struck.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
For the first time this season, Carolina won the turnover battle yet lost the game, adding a new wrinkle to this confounding season.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Nov. 2025
Adjective
What is the most confounding and terrible, however, is Gretchen’s assertion that Slade, the anti-Viagra, doesn’t get involved with the women on his own accord, but only engages because the women always talk about him.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
The offense’s struggles are the most confounding.
—Zach Berman, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
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
Good luck trying to gift someone concert tickets; ticket services can be confounding.
—Jon Bream, Boston Herald, 22 Dec. 2025
Then came the explosive rushing attack that had been tantalizingly dormant for the majority of this confounding campaign.
—Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 21 Dec. 2025
The Panthers, meanwhile, have been a confounding club all season.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 18 Dec. 2025
The list of places to visit and people to meet grows ever longer, the pull of the Sonoran expanse confounding my oceanic island origins.
—Von Diaz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine’s peculiar transformation from a consistently productive NFL receiver to a virtual non-factor in the Dolphins’ passing game has been one of the confounding mysteries of Miami’s season.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Dec. 2025
Chicago is currently mired in a miserable seven-game losing streak, a confounding skid that includes defeats against NBA bottom-feeders like the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2025
By shuffling these more personal images with his own photographs of their rooms—draperies, windows, unmade beds, a shower stall—Xu constructs a fascinating if confounding new reality, a stage set destined to be struck.
—Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025
For the first time this season, Carolina won the turnover battle yet lost the game, adding a new wrinkle to this confounding season.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confounding
Adjective
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The movie is hilarious, fun, disturbing, perplexing, exuberant, exhausting.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
12 Dec. 2025
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The canon can already be described as a bewildering artistic menagerie, including a perplexing assessment of misandrism, body horror by Brian Yuzna, killer toys from the ’90s, and more.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
11 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The pilot of a private jet reportedly made an eerie discovery while flying thousands of feet over Rhode Island, marking the latest in unexplained encounters baffling both experts and civilians alike.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
22 Dec. 2025
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From financial wipeouts to baffling misreads of beloved source material, some of Hollywood’s most notorious flops began as video games.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The report reiterated concerns about seven situations, two of which have been on the list since 2007, including the bureaucracy’s chronic inability to successfully employ information technology — embarrassing for a state that is the global center for digital tools.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
8 Jan. 2026
-
An ever-growing pile of embarrassing legislative audits consistently reveals the persistent challenge the governor has with recruiting and retaining leaders with executive acumen.—
Torrey Snow,
Baltimore Sun,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Perplexity’s image features photographs of people with some truly nightmarish distortions on its wall, while the placement of its sink is confusing and distracting.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
25 Oct. 2025
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This was out of respect for me, and also to avoid confusing the children.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The film spends the next hour and 50 minutes refuting that idea.—
Sadie Sartini Garner,
Pitchfork,
24 Oct. 2025
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Michaels took to her Instagram days after the release of Fit for TV to post a series of screenshots of text chains, email threads, and other pieces of documentation refuting or otherwise complicating each claim leveled at her.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Here are five times what seemed like a harmless toy turned into a puzzling moment online.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Nov. 2025
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The second flare is even more puzzling.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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And aren’t our real-life romantic complications bewildering enough?—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
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Its ginormous investments in higher-value, tech-heavy sectors from smartphones to autos to semiconductors to biotechnology are disrupting the global landscape at bewildering speed.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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As the Alabama Crimson Tide prepare for the rival Auburn Tigers ahead of Saturday’s Iron Bowl, the team received a bit of disconcerting news.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Nov. 2025
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The code, though, is currently often replete with disconcerting troubles.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confounding. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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