# confuse

> English word · Verb · IPA /kənˈfjuːz/ · frequency rank #11,671

## Definitions
1. to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand
2. To mix up, muddle up (one thing with another); to mistake (one thing for another).
3. To mix thoroughly; to confound; to disorder.
4. To make uneasy and ashamed; to embarrass.
5. To rout; discomfit.
6. To be confused.

## Etymology
Back-formation from confused, from Middle English confused (“frustrated, ruined”), from Anglo-Norman confus, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundō.

## Easily confused with
- **consume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confuse-vs-consume)
- **conjure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confuse-vs-conjure)
- **confused** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confuse-vs-confused)
- **confess** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confess-vs-confuse)
- **concise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/concise-vs-confuse)
- **confine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confine-vs-confuse)
- **confide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confide-vs-confuse)

## Common misspellings (10)
`cconfuse`, `cnofuse`, `cofnuse`, `conffuse`, `confsue`, `confues`, `confusse`, `connfuse`, `conufse`, `ocnfuse`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/confuse