confusion

Noun

confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)

1. (usually) A lack of clarity or order.
   • But much of the federal workforce is located outside the nation’s capital, and Trump’s offer was met with confusion and skepticism in many of those offices.2025 February 1, Tami Luhby, Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh, “Federal employees confused, angered by Trump’s offer to quit”, in CNN

   Synonyms:

   discombobulation

2. (usually) The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
   • Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
     ⁠Confusions of a wasted youth;
     ⁠Forgive them where they fail in truth,
     And in thy wisdom make me wise.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Prologue”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   bewilderment, disarray

3. (usually) The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
   • Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray et al., editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 128
   • Confusion of sex and gender continues when she begins to address what the sex-change operation achieves.1996, Frank William Lewins, Bioethics for Health Professionals, page 128
4. (usually) Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic, usually) A state of shame or embarrassment.
   • Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
   • "[…] In going to Mr Carlyle you have done the best thing possible; you have put your sister into the care of the shrewdest man in London." Whereat the object of this quite unexpected eulogy found himself becoming covered with modest confusion.1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados
6. (collective, rare, usually) A group of wildebeest.
   • A group of wildebeest is called a confusion.2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC
   • The runners are a confusion of wildebeest, fighting their way to the front.2024, Arron Steep, Morning of the Ouromor: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems, Rein A. Peterson