confound

/kənˈfaʊnd/

//kənˈfaʊnd// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"confound" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“confound” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #44,133. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#44,133
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To perplex or puzzle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-confound · confound · English

confound · rank #44,133 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,133
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH conjugal

Nearest frequency peer: conjugal (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “confound”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “confound” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

confound vs confounded
80% similar
confound vs compound
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for confound
PropertyValue
Headwordconfound
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/kənˈfaʊnd/
Letters8
Frequency rank#44,133
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “confound” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).confoundlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “conjugal” (#44,134), “cond” (#44,131), “contouring” (#44,135). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around confound (IPA /kənˈfaʊnd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #44,133 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for confound, with forms such as "cconfound", "cnofound", and "cofnound". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "confounded", "compound", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find)… The correct English form is confound, spelled C-O-N-F-O-U-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    To perplex or puzzle.
  2. 2
    To stun or amaze.
  3. 3
    To fail to see the difference; to mix up; to confuse right and wrong.
  4. 4
    To make something worse.
  5. 5
    To combine in a confused fashion; to mingle so as to make the parts indistinguishable.
  6. 6
    To cause to be ashamed; to abash.
  7. 7
    To defeat, to frustrate, to thwart.
  8. 8
    To damn (a mild oath).
  9. 9
    To destroy, ruin, or devastate; to bring to ruination.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how confound appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.
  2. The fightback when it came was in the [Roger] Federer fashion: unfussy, filled with classy strokes from the back with perfectly timed interventions at the net that confounded his opponent. The third set passed in a bit of a blur, the fourth, which led to the second tie-break, was the most dramatic of the match.

Etymology

From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.

This word in other languages

confundir(Español)verwirren(Deutsch)confundir(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cconfound
  • cnofound
  • cofnound
  • conffound
  • confonud
  • confoudn
  • confoundd
  • confounnd
  • confuond
  • connfound
  • conofund
  • ocnfound

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of confound - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cconfound1cnofound2cofnound2conffound1confonud2confoudn2confoundd1confounnd1
Edit distance from "confound"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "confound"?
"confound" is spelled C-O-N-F-O-U-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /kənˈfaʊnd/.
What does "confound" mean?
As a verb, "confound" means: To perplex or puzzle.
What words are commonly confused with "confound"?
"confound" is commonly confused with "confounded", "compound". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "confound"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "confound" is /kənˈfaʊnd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "confound"?
From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), no... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "confound", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conjugal#44,134coinbase#44,125covalent#44,141closeted#44,124

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

doorknob12 variantsdownsize12 variantsbiodiesel12 variantsbarbican12 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "confound". Here's where to go from here.

  • "confound" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "confounded". View pair
  • 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #44,133 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list