1
as in to bewilder
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
the similar-sounding words "censure" and "censor" often confuse people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to complicate
to make (something) unclear to the understanding
stop confusing the issue with irrelevant facts
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to mistake
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 to embarrass
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 to disrupt
to undo the proper order or arrangement of
vandals had hopelessly confused the papers in the office files
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
1
as in difficult
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in perplexing
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of confusing
Simon Hill, Wired News, 11 July 2025
O’Brien says his critics might be confused because of the novelty of his approach.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 10 July 2025
Currently, the site has a wall with three holes, which has confused residents.
—Kamal Morgan
july 10, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 July 2025
The decision was met by swift condemnation and a legal challenge from San Francisco International Airport officials and its legal team which argued the new name would confuse travelers and was a copyright infringement.
—Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 10 July 2025
Hence, Nicole left the party, despondent at having been rejected and confused at the cold reception.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Pack said the fact that D'Amato changed his name could be seen as another attempt to distance himself from his past and confuse the process.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 9 July 2025
In short, imitation learning can rapidly teach a model to mimic the behaviors in its training data, but the model will easily get confused in unfamiliar environments.
—ArsTechnica, 7 July 2025
The man is Jack Ryan, not to be confused with the Jack Ryan dreamed up by Tom Clancy.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Verb
Amazon $650 Samsung $650 Best Buy Not to be confused with the Galaxy S24 series, this midrange smartphone from late 2024 has some elements of the flagship phone, but makes some sacrifices to get the price down.
—Simon Hill, Wired News, 11 July 2025
O’Brien says his critics might be confused because of the novelty of his approach.
—Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 10 July 2025
Currently, the site has a wall with three holes, which has confused residents.
—Kamal Morgan
july 10, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 July 2025
The decision was met by swift condemnation and a legal challenge from San Francisco International Airport officials and its legal team which argued the new name would confuse travelers and was a copyright infringement.
—Sierra Lopez, Mercury News, 10 July 2025
Hence, Nicole left the party, despondent at having been rejected and confused at the cold reception.
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 10 July 2025
Pack said the fact that D'Amato changed his name could be seen as another attempt to distance himself from his past and confuse the process.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 9 July 2025
In short, imitation learning can rapidly teach a model to mimic the behaviors in its training data, but the model will easily get confused in unfamiliar environments.
—ArsTechnica, 7 July 2025
The man is Jack Ryan, not to be confused with the Jack Ryan dreamed up by Tom Clancy.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confusing
Adjective
-
Our models and expertise can sniff out the broad parameters, but the precise location and timing of moisture plumes, training (quasi-stationary rain cells), and forcing mechanism can be difficult.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2025
-
The fire is in difficult country with access issues and firefighters are evaluating options for the right flank and head of the fire.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
5 July 2025
Adjective
-
The growing complexity of the guidelines is all the more perplexing because the government’s overarching advice on how to eat healthier hasn’t changed that much over the past 35 years.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
23 June 2025
-
Forecasters point to perplexing planetary phenomenon.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
22 June 2025
Adjective
-
Otherwise, the 27-year-old’s immeasurable talent has been enough to compensate for the shortcomings of Red Bull’s car, which has proven troublesome since midway through last season.—
Luke Smith,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
-
Work will be done to improve a troublesome railroad crossing for motorists in the center of Mt. Juliet for the second time in about four years.—
Andy Humbles,
The Tennessean,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Still, for many of the players who were dominant during tennis’ defining era, today’s shrunken audiences are somewhat baffling, given the athleticism on display and the dizzying velocity of the aggro-baseliner game.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
27 June 2025
-
Rejecting 2010’s Inception when Nolan was coming off his blockbuster masterpiece The Dark Knight, however, seems like a more baffling move.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
But many of the Blues’ outings have been unpleasant because of high temperatures and storms, and six games across the tournament have been paused for poor weather conditions, angering manager Enzo Maresca.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
8 July 2025
-
My other wildlife standoff involved a much cuter animal, but potentially far more unpleasant.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 July 2025
Adjective
-
But the more puzzling sequences are offset by the mindless pleasure of destroying everything in your path, which is also a valid solution for many problems.—
Jordan Minor,
PC Magazine,
1 July 2025
-
Some only require smacking a machine with a wrench, while others can be more puzzling at first — like rapidly hitting button prompts to kickstart a fire generator and tossing it into a frozen anomaly without setting yourself on fire.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
Nowadays, both men and women are serving faster than ever before, with players regularly reaching service speeds that were once thought to be nearly impossible.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
8 July 2025
-
No sign yet of the Qualcomm fixes from last month which triggered a U.S. government update mandate for federal staff, with a deadline that was impossible to hit.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
Looming large is the thorny issue of Washington and how to handle Trump and his unwieldy and unpredictable tariffs regime that could affect severely impact European and global economic growth.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
8 July 2025
-
But using SAVE for this sort of verification was unwieldy.—
Miles Parks,
NPR,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confusing. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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