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 The confusion came in the final seconds of OT when New York trailed and Angel Reese was at the foul line. — ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026 Amid the confusion of going off course to get the injured girl to safety and then trying to return to the race, Villarreal got sidetracked. — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 Your incorrect claim that Jews were not a majority in Israel at the country’s inception is probably the result of confusion over the fact that Arabs were a majority in Palestine. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 The Front Range Passenger Rail District has acknowledged the confusion. — Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 8 Oct. 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
  • And liquid nitrogen could transform custard into ice cream in the blink of an eye, engulfing the table in a theatrical fog.
    — Robb Report, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026
  • In some locations, the fog will become locally dense and reduce visibility to one-quarter mile or less at times.
    — NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of fog
Noun
  • The storms have caused flooding, havoc and devastation in several parts of Chile.
    — Nayara Batschke, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • So where does this rank among the wackiest havoc ever wreaked by domes on innocent baseballs?
    — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of havoc
Noun
  • The drama that animates Mud is a Sisyphean one, and Wolf casts herself as agent of her own embarrassment and woe.
    — Enzo Escober, Pitchfork, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Epstein have been a source of embarrassment to the royal family for more than a decade.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of embarrassment
Noun
  • In one image, a forlorn man appears as if swallowed by a tangle of trunks and roots.
    — Erin Parish, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The brain’s surface has ridges and valleys, and CTE tangles are found in the depths of those valleys, called the cortical sulci, and surround blood vessels.
    — Alexandra Pattillo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of tangle
Noun
  • When sales came back down to earth, Guitar Center had the wrong merchandise on hand, a problem that was hard to remedy as Chinese factory shutdowns caused supply chain chaos.
    — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Sharp shift from chaos The researchers adjusted how frequently each process occurred to determine which behavior dominated.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of chaos
Noun
  • That slight sense of unease, coupled with Faith’s crystalline country voice and boundary-pushing songwriting, is at the core of her record Cherry Valley (and the recent deluxe version, Cherry Valley Forever).
    — Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Asked whether the ongoing appeals create any unease, Rosario waved it off.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 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 14 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on confusion

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about confusion

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