confusing
/kənˈfjuːzɪŋ/adjective, verb
confusing is spelled C-O-N-F-U-S-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, confusing means “difficult to understand; not clear as lacking order, chaotic, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in confusing?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-F-U-S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is confusing?
Confusing appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce confusing?
- /kənˈfjuːzɪŋ/
Confusing has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-confusing.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-confusing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of confusing
- more confusing comparative
- most confusing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does confusing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
difficult to understand; not clear as lacking order, chaotic, etc.
Several sections in that book are really confusing.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of confuse
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Confusing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense difficult to understand:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | complexe, déroutant, confusant |
| German | verwirrend, irreführend, missverständlich, unübersichtlich |
| Portuguese | confuso, embrulhado, embaraçado |
| Spanish | confuso, enredado, confusionario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.