confusion

From Middle English confusioun, from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Morphologically confuse +‎ -ion.

• IPA^(key): /kənˈfjuːʒən/
• Rhymes: -uːʒən

• Audio (US):

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confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)

1. A lack of clarity or order.
   • 2025 February 1, Tami Luhby, Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh, “Federal employees confused, angered by Trump’s offer to quit”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     But much of the federal workforce is located outside the nation’s capital, and Trump’s offer was met with confusion and skepticism in many of those offices.

2. The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Prologue”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
     ⁠Confusions of a wasted youth;
     ⁠Forgive them where they fail in truth,
     And in thy wisdom make me wise.

3. The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.

   The confusion of sexual orientation and gender identity leads to discrimination and stereotyping.

   • 1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray et al., editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 128:

     Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.

4. Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […]

6. (collective) A group of wildebeest.
   • 2019 June 6, “A gaggle, a confusion and a conspiracy - bizarre animal collective group names”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     A group of wildebeest is called a confusion.

• (lack of clarity or order): discombobulation
• (state of being confused): bewilderment, disarray

• (antonym(s) of “lack of clarity or order”): clarity
• (antonym(s) of “misunderstanding”): distinction

Inherited from Middle French confusion, from Old French confusion, borrowed from Latin cōnfusiōnem, from verb confundo.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.fy.zjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

• prêter à confusion

• “confusion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Old French confusion.

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

• French: confusion

Borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem.

confusion oblique singular, f (oblique plural confusions, nominative singular confusion, nominative plural confusions)

1. spread (act or instance of spreading)

• English: confusion
• Middle French: confusion
  • French: confusion