1
as in difficult
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
2
as in perplexing
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
1
as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
the similar-sounding words "censure" and "censor" often confuse people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in complicating
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
stop confusing the issue with irrelevant facts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in mistaking
to fail to differentiate (a thing) from something similar or related
a lot of people confuse popular fame with enduring achievement
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in embarrassing
to throw into a state of self-conscious distress
she was confused by the shocking bluntness of his marriage proposal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in disrupting
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
vandals had hopelessly confused the papers in the office files
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of confusing
Maia Rosenfeld, NBC news, 29 May 2026
Swimsuits for women my size are typically cumbersome, made with a confusing excess of fabric, and frumpy.
—Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 29 May 2026
Co-starring Candy Clark, Rip Torn, and Buck Henry, the occasionally confusing movie also has its share of controversy.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 May 2026
The previous name, polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, is imprecise and confusing to patients, families and physicians.
—Melanie Cree, The Conversation, 29 May 2026
Microsoft also launched several versions of Copilot, confusing customers.
—Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 29 May 2026
Rain hammered Independence Boulevard hard enough to blur the windshield, and the voice taking my order came through muffled and distant, though no more confusing than a late-night order at Cook Out.
—Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 29 May 2026
If your intake process is confusing, AI will automate a confusing intake faster.
—Omer Qureshi, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
The organization of features is simply confusing.
—Jill Duffy, PC Magazine, 28 May 2026
Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
Huxley’s critique is clear; America mistakes body for spirit, promiscuously confusing the physical with the metaphysical.
—Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
Those practices included predatory mortgage lending, junk fees, confusing jargon on financial product descriptions, payday loans, and much more.
—Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Showing a simplified workflow of chain of thought would avoid confusing the average user who just wants a pretty UI and doesn’t care that it was generated on the spot.
—ArsTechnica, 20 May 2026
But that interpretation risks confusing resilience with delay.
—Robert Rapier, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Pre, pro and postbiotics explained All the gut-health terminology surrounding ARIH can get confusing quickly.
—Ryan Brennan
may 18, Charlotte Observer, 18 May 2026
Concerns over parking fees, confusing technology Several speakers pointed to high parking fees, strict enforcement, and confusing technology as major concerns.
—Caroline Foreback, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Beware of confusing north privetwith its invasive cousin, Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 17 May 2026
Adjective
The lack of clarity makes choosing a company potentially confusing for patients, and the medical profession is partly to blame, said Jamy Ard, an obesity doctor and researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
—Maia Rosenfeld, NBC news, 29 May 2026
Swimsuits for women my size are typically cumbersome, made with a confusing excess of fabric, and frumpy.
—Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 29 May 2026
Co-starring Candy Clark, Rip Torn, and Buck Henry, the occasionally confusing movie also has its share of controversy.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 29 May 2026
The previous name, polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, is imprecise and confusing to patients, families and physicians.
—Melanie Cree, The Conversation, 29 May 2026
Microsoft also launched several versions of Copilot, confusing customers.
—Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 29 May 2026
Rain hammered Independence Boulevard hard enough to blur the windshield, and the voice taking my order came through muffled and distant, though no more confusing than a late-night order at Cook Out.
—Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 29 May 2026
If your intake process is confusing, AI will automate a confusing intake faster.
—Omer Qureshi, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
The organization of features is simply confusing.
—Jill Duffy, PC Magazine, 28 May 2026
Verb
Schoen’s contract extension is confusing at best.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026
Huxley’s critique is clear; America mistakes body for spirit, promiscuously confusing the physical with the metaphysical.
—Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
Those practices included predatory mortgage lending, junk fees, confusing jargon on financial product descriptions, payday loans, and much more.
—Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 20 May 2026
Showing a simplified workflow of chain of thought would avoid confusing the average user who just wants a pretty UI and doesn’t care that it was generated on the spot.
—ArsTechnica, 20 May 2026
But that interpretation risks confusing resilience with delay.
—Robert Rapier, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Pre, pro and postbiotics explained All the gut-health terminology surrounding ARIH can get confusing quickly.
—Ryan Brennan
may 18, Charlotte Observer, 18 May 2026
Concerns over parking fees, confusing technology Several speakers pointed to high parking fees, strict enforcement, and confusing technology as major concerns.
—Caroline Foreback, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Beware of confusing north privetwith its invasive cousin, Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 17 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confusing
Adjective
-
Building the program had proved difficult.—
Andrew Carter,
Chicago Tribune,
24 May 2026
-
Sindcom 14-Piece Food Storage Containers Set The pantry is one of the most difficult places to organize thanks to boxes of cereal, pasta, baking ingredients, and more scattered about.—
Kelsey Fredricks,
PEOPLE,
24 May 2026
Adjective
-
The right-hander has struggled to maintain his velocity this season, a perplexing trend largely stemming from an inconsistency in his mechanics.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
At the same time, the moon in Pisces makes social dynamics and exchanges more hazy and perplexing, especially with Mercury approaching a semi-square with Neptune in Aries, which will become exact tomorrow morning.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
11 May 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
-
But as is often the case in pro sports, arbitration, the private dispute resolution method, is a complicating factor.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
26 May 2026
-
State media also reported that blueprints provided by the mine did not match the site’s actual layout, complicating rescue operations, the outlet added.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
25 May 2026
Verb
-
And mistaking one for the other is another legacy of how the Cold War foreshortened the humanistic possibilities of the intellectual revolution of the past eighty years—a revolution that has, miraculously, allowed people to communicate with machines using human languages.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
Their father, Nahuel (Amién), flits from one romantic affair to another, failing to recognize his shortcomings the way fathers typically forget minor yet significant details, like mistaking his younger daughter’s shoe size or never delivering on his promise to have the sink fixed.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
To be sweating on the results of others and nervously looking over their shoulder — and from fifth place — at this stage of a season is embarrassing enough for Liverpool.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
20 May 2026
-
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
-
Lastly, azelaic acid can help reduce redness and breakouts gently, without disrupting the skin’s ecosystem.—
Tatiana Dias,
Vogue,
29 May 2026
-
Jim also reiterated his view that concerns about AI disrupting cybersecurity have proven misguided as digital threats become increasingly sophisticated.—
Alexa LoMonaco,
CNBC,
29 May 2026
Adjective
-
Nostalgia for this troublesome decade was more common among the men.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
22 May 2026
-
The Italian town is not the first area to struggle with troublesome peacocks or other birds.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confusing. Accessed 30 May. 2026.
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