confusion

noun

kən-ˈfyü-zhən How to pronounce confusion (audio)
Definition of confusionnext
1
as in fog
a state of mental uncertainty the farmer's driving directions to the fairground just left us in total confusion

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2
as in havoc
a state in which everything is out of order it was hard to find anything in that confusion in the attic

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3
as in embarrassment
the emotional state of being made self-consciously uncomfortable thrown into speechless confusion by the wild accusations

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of confusion Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Tariff refunds have muddied retailers' earnings reports in recent weeks as Wall Street struggles to parse through the confusion. — Laya Neelakandan, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026 However, there’s still a lot of confusion within the AI companies on the specifics, including exactly what types of models would be reviewed, according to people familiar with the matter. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026 Still, there remains some confusion as to whether clothes should be turned inside out before washing. — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 29 Aug. 2026 What followed was days of confusion over the missing driver and rolls. — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for confusion
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confusion
  1. fog
  2. havoc
  3. embarrassment
  4. tangle
  5. chaos
  6. unease
  7. perplexity
  8. jumble
Noun
  • This horror movie mostly just smelled of fake fog from a community theater production and occasionally you were startled by random bursts of air, once again pulling you from the events on screen.
    — Meredith G. White, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Tech has crept into every facet of everyday life, like an invisible fog of ones and zeros.
    — Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of fog
Noun
  • His worldview has brought nothing but havoc to Americans, whereas Parton provided a guidebook for a national redemption.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • After a stop in the NFL, former Mississippi tight end Dae’Quan Wright could be heading to LSU thanks to a court order that is creating havoc throughout college sports by allowing Wright and others an unexpected fifth year of eligibility.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of havoc
Noun
  • He’s particularly drawn to episodes that are discomforting for his countrymen—the Dreyfus Affair, and, a recent obsession, French accommodation in Nazi rule during the Occupation, a national embarrassment that was long passed over in silence.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Just the latest embarrassment from the worst president in any of our lifetimes.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of embarrassment
Noun
  • The Bell Jar Tracing the tangle of a new job in New York City and the simultaneous onrush of clinical depression, The Bell Jar brings the interior world of central character Esther Greenwood into stunning relief.
    — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Penske has designed tracks through city blocks, but never through both federal and municipal grounds with a tangle of buildings that include the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Archives.
    — Adam Kilgore, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of tangle
Noun
  • Roughly two dozen other people, including several children, were struck by gunfire and dozens more were injured in the chaos.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026
  • What was new was someone finally organizing it into something a nurse could use in sixty seconds in the chaos of a delivery room.
    — Stacy L. Hambleton, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of chaos
Noun
  • Years later, the actress Jenny McCarthy popularized the idea that parental unease about vaccines was being dismissed by the medical establishment.
    — Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Bocarsly acknowledged why government collection of Jewish identity data can create unease.
    — Naomi Taxay, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of unease
Noun
  • The first weeks were a roller coaster of pleasure and perplexity.
    — Tim Parks, New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2026
  • The fashion world, for the most part, reacted with perplexity.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2026
Definition of perplexity
Noun
  • Arches and natural bridges sweep like buttresses from jumbles of rock, giving this landscape a mystical, cathedral-like quality.
    — Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Macaroons are chewy jumbles of coconut bound together with egg whites and sweetened condensed milk.
    — Lynda Balslev, Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of jumble

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Cite this Entry

“Confusion.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confusion. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on confusion

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about confusion

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