Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use confuse in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, adjective

Confuse means to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand. Example: “It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.”

Examples of confuse by meaning

verbTo puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult...

  • It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.
  • "What confuses me is how other insurance companies knew about it," said Zhang, a 26-year-old government employee from Shandong.2018 August 23, Engen Tham, “Data dump: China sees surge in personal information up for sale”, in Reuters
  • President Donald Trump’s offer to most federal employees to resign now and be paid through September stunned the workers who received it – angering some, confusing many and raising questions about whether the offer is even legal.2025 February 1, Tami Luhby, Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh, “Federal employees confused, angered by Trump’s offer to quit”, in CNN

verbTo 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.

verbTo mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder.

  • The dense fog utterly confused traffic on the highway.

More sentences with confuse

  • Many readers find the first book of A Tale of Two Cities to be confusing.From the entry book
  • There is a small offset between the switch and the indicator which some users found confusing.From the entry offset
  • English spelling is often regarded as confusing and unpredictable due to the mongrel nature of that language.From the entry mongrel
  • Unfortunately she fell into the trap of confusing biology with destiny.From the entry trap
  • The hours of his illness were disjointed and confusing as he drifted in and out of consciousness.From the entry disjointed
  • Jones was a submariner and could often confuse a batter with his unorthodox delivery.From the entry submariner
  • He was a sloppy punctuator, often leaving out commas and confusing colons with semicolons.From the entry punctuator
  • He may like you a ton, but don’t confuse that with love.From the entry a ton
  • The music critic loves the instrumentation of the song so much that he can forgive the confusing lyrics.From the entry forgive
  • Several sections in that book are really confusing.From the entry confusing
  • It was very confusing hearing my cancer surgery being classified as "elective surgery". Am I "electing" to live rather than die?From the entry elective
  • The pavement markings on the street were confusing to foreigners.From the entry on the street
  • In most cases, at subsequent mentions of the binomial name you can abbreviate the genus with no danger of confusing the reader.From the entry genus
  • The term “performative miserabilism” has been coined to explain France’s confusing penchant towards self-cynicism.2023 May 1, Alexander Hurst, “Has France really gone to hell? Its catastrophist discourse is at odds with the facts”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry miserabilism
  • This added freedom can be confusing for consumers and store designers: Where should these products go?2023 March 24, Laura Reiley, “Could nonalcoholic wine be the toast of the town?”, in The Washington Post. From the entry full-proof
  • The pricing plans can be more confusing than a Rubik's cube!2020 November 24, John Longo, Tyler Longo, Buffett's Tips, →ISBN, page 225. From the entry more confusing than a Rubik's Cube
  • Tipping can be confusing, and the proliferation of food delivery apps has made it even more so.2019 December 18, Laura Brehaut, “The case for Christmas tipping”, in National Post, volume 22, number 45, page A1. From the entry non-miserly
  • But the blood tests used to diagnose lupus can confuse primary-care physicians, Karp says.2018 January 19, Sophia Dembling, “Living with a medical mystery: Why are autoimmune disorders so puzzling?”, in The Dallas Morning News. From the entry undiagnose
  • Openwashing practices can therefore be described as tainted, misleading and confusing.2015, Nicolai van der Woert, Robert Schuwer, Martijn Ouwehand, “Connecting Various Forms of Openness: Seeking a Stronger Value…. From the entry openwashing
  • Conflating veganism with vegetarianism and rawism is unnecessarily confusing and distracting.2013, Kim Socha, Sarahjane Blum, Confronting Animal Exploitation, page 107. From the entry rawism
  • Frank Bruni is a wise man who doesn't confuse the risks of reviewing restaurants with covering wars.2012 March 31, Scott Simon, “Beef, Tarantula And Gout: Food Critics Suffer, Too”, in National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.: National…. From the entry creme chantilly
  • “Moral – don't confuse timidity with humility,” advised Rollison, sitting back in his favourite chair.2012, John Creasey, The Toff And The Deadly Priest, →ISBN, page 168. From the entry prodnose
  • Merton cautioned against confusing post factum sociological interpretations with social theory.2010, John K. Rhoads, Critical Issues in Social Theory, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry post factum
  • The error here is to confuse British composure with the appearance of bafflement, embarrassment and reserve.2008, Chris Rojek, Brit-Myth: Who Do the British Think They Are?, Reaktion Books, →ISBN. From the entry bafflement
  • These indeterminisms confuse a regular bus arbiter in deciding whether a transaction should be aborted or resumed.2008, Hamid Sarbazi-Azad, Behrooz Parhami, Seyed-Ghasem Miremadi, Advances in Computer Science and Engineering. From the entry indeterminism
  • Don't be swayed by minor setbacks: Don't confuse minor shifts with sea-changes.2003, Vince Lombardi, Jr., “Think Big Picture”, in The Lombardi Rules: 26 Lessons from Vince Lombardi, the World’s Greatest Coach…. From the entry sea change
  • Unfortunately, the most widespread confusing move is kinda useless against the Curselax.2001 June 29, Talen, “Anti-Curselax Measure”, in alt.games.nintendo.pokemon (Usenet). From the entry Curselax
  • Later, it was revealed that Eisenhower often spoke incoherently on purpose, in order to confuse the press.2000 March 17, Lance Morrow, “It’s How the President’s Brain Is Wired That’s Key”, in Time. From the entry incoherently
  • They confuse Christianity with a thanatolatry and a dolorolatry, a worship of death and suffering.2000, William F. May, The Physician's Covenant: Images of the Healer in Medical Ethics (Medical), Westminster John Knox Press. From the entry thanatolatry
  • The overworld map is kinda confusing to walk through, i had know idea where i was going.1999 April 26, BuffGuy, “Shadow Madness Demo thoughts”, in rec.games.video.sony (Usenet). From the entry overworld map
  • Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.1992, Gore Vidal, The Decline and Fall of the American Empire. From the entry decadent
  • For the consumer, mental healthcare can also be the most confusing area for treatment.1992, David H. Ellig, A Patient’s Survival Guide, or, Never Get Naked . . . On Your First Visit!, Mesa, Ariz.: Med. Ed. Inc., →ISBN, page…. From the entry mental healthcare
  • Religion has become either wimpishly workaday, or terminally crazy, or merely businesslike—confusing spirituality with charitable donations.1989, Julian Barnes, chapter 8, in A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, New York: Vintage, published 1990, page 242. From the entry wimpishly
  • However, one must be careful not to confuse ethics with the law.1985, Eugene R. Laczniak et al., edited by Gene R. Laczniak and Patrick E. Murphy, Marketing Ethics: Guidelines for Managers, Lexington…. From the entry baksheesh
  • The legislative processes, through which the parliamentary draftsman's work must pass, are confusing and muddled.1983, Geoffrey Lewis, “Statutory Interpretation”, in Lord Atkin, London: Butterworths, →ISBN, page 118; reprinted Oxford, Oxfordshire…. From the entry Hansard

Meaning of confuse

  1. verb To puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand.
  2. verb To mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another).
  3. verb To mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder.

Full definition of confuse

Questions about confuse in a sentence

How do you use confuse in a sentence?
Confuse is used as a verb and adjective. For example: “It confused me when I went to the office and nobody was there, but then I realised it was Sunday.”
What is a short sentence with confuse?
“Several sections in that book are really confusing.”
What does confuse mean?
Confuse means to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: confuse (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use confuse in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/confuse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.