confused
UK/kənˈfjuːzd//kənˈfjuzd/
confused is the simple past and past participle of confuse.
Adjective
confused (comparative more confused, superlative most confused)
- unable to think clearly or understand
- A new survey suggests that most Americans are confused about what counts as a healthy food choice.2017 May 16, Jacqueline Howard, “‘Healthy’ foods have most of us confused, survey finds”, in CNN
- Synonyms:
- confounded, puzzled, perplexed, dazed, mixed-up
- disoriented
- chaotic, jumbled or muddled
- Synonyms:
- wooly
- making no sense; illogical
- embarrassed
Meaning of confuse
Verb
confuse (third-person singular simple present confuses, present participle confusing, simple past and past participle confused)
- To puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand.
- It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.
- To mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another).
- People who say "hola" to Italians are confusing Italian with Spanish.
- To mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder.
- The dense fog utterly confused traffic on the highway.
- To make uneasy and ashamed; to embarrass.
- To rout; discomfit.
- To be confused.
Synonyms of confused
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- at a loss for words
- at sea
- at sixes and sevens
- baffled
- befuddled
- bewildered
- confuzzled
- dazzled
- discombobulated
- disconcerted
- dumbfounded
- flabagasted
- flabbergasted
- flabbergastered
- flummoxed
- flustered
- fluttered
- jumbled
- lost for words
- minussed
- misled
- mixed up
- muddled
- muzzy
- mystified
- nonplussed
- not with it
- out of it
- out to lunch
- punch-drunk
Forms of confused
| comparative | more confused |
|---|---|
| superlative | most confused |
Origin of confused
Originally from Middle English confused (“frustrated, ruined”), from Anglo-Norman confus + Middle English -ed (past participial suffix), from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundō; now equivalent to confuse (a back-formation) + -ed.
Words formed from confused
Phrases with confused
Words that rhyme with confused
Questions about confused
- What does confused mean?
- Confused means unable to think clearly or understand.
- What is confused the simple past and past participle of?
- Confused is the simple past and past participle of confuse.
- What part of speech is confused?
- Confused is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce confused?
- Confused is pronounced /kənˈfjuːzd/ (UK).
Words near confused in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: confused (page history and authors); confuse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-confused.ogg.
Cite this entry: “confused.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/confused. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.