confusion
/kənˈfjuːʒən/noun
confusion is spelled C-O-N-F-U-S-I-O-N: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, confusion means “A lack of clarity or order” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of confusion is confusions.
How many letters and syllables are in confusion?
| Letters | 9: C-O-N-F-U-S-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,206th 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 confusion?
Confusion appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,206th 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 confusion?
- /kənˈfjuːʒən/
Confusion 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: En-us-confusion.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of confusion
- confusions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does confusion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A lack of clarity or order.
- 2
The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
- 3
The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
- 4
Lack of understanding due to dementia.
- 5
archaicA state of shame or embarrassment.
- 6
rareA group of wildebeest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Confusion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | confusion, désordre , malentendu |
| German | Verwirrung, Durcheinander, Konfusion, Verwechslung , Missverständnis |
| Portuguese | confusão |
| Spanish | confusión |
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.
Where does confusion come from?
From Middle English confusioun, from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem. Morphologically confuse + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).