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to confuse

to confuse

142 1.9
Think one person or thing is another by mistake
  • verb
  • /kənˈfjuz/
translation icon : confundir (con)
  • Teachers often remind us not to confuse the author's opinion with the facts presented in the text.
  • confuse the two
  • often confused with
  • tendency to confuse

And I think a lot of people confuse fear and regret.

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Examples

  • We don't have to confuse people with foolish language.

  • Could you have confused her with someone else?

  • And I think it's too often we confuse simple with easy.

  • In addition, we can learn not to confuse lock with skill.

  • I seem to have confused you with someone else.

  • And I think a lot of people confuse fear and regret.

  • We often confuse simplicity with easy, but it's actually the exact opposite.

  • Please don't confuse your own childhood with my daughter's.

  • When you accept the machine analogy, it is very easy to confuse educating with processing.

    Academic text (1990)
  • My pithy answer is don't confuse schooling with education.

Synonyms

to mistake for
vsto confuse
112 3.5

To think one person or thing is another

expresses wrong identity in a phrase form rather than a single word
to mistake
vsto confuse
95 2.6

To think one person or thing is another

is about thinking one thing is another rather than general misunderstanding
to mix up
vsto confuse
  • Informal
65 2.7

To make people confused and things messy

is specifically about wrongly thinking one thing is another rather than disorder
to misread
vsto confuse
56 3.4

To understand words or actions in the wrong way

is specifically about wrong identity rather than misreading or misinterpreting
to misunderstand
vsto confuse
53 1.8

To think something is true when it is not

is the specific act of thinking one thing is another rather than failing to grasp
to perplex
vsto confuse
35 6.3

To make someone confused and unable to understand

is about wrongly identifying one thing as another rather than causing puzzlement
to muddle
vsto confuse
33 4.8

Mix things up so they are unclear

is the act of wrongly identifying one thing as another, not general muddling
to misinterpret
vsto confuse
23 4.2

To understand something in the wrong way

is about wrong identity rather than wrong interpretation of meaning
to misconstrue
vsto confuse
22 7.7

To understand what someone says or does in the wrong way

is about mistaking identity rather than misreading intention or meaning
to confound
vsto confuse
12 7.3

Mistake one thing or person for another

is the simpler act of wrongly seeing one thing as another
to misidentify
vsto confuse
9 6.5

Say a person or thing is a different one

is the act of thinking one thing is another rather than mere opinion error
to misjudge
vsto confuse
6 3.9

To form a wrong idea about someone or something

is about wrong identity rather than making a wrong judgment about quality
to misconceive
vsto confuse
1 7.5

To understand something in the wrong way

is about thinking one thing is another rather than having a wrong idea
to misperceive
vsto confuse
1 7.7

To understand something in the wrong way

is about wrongly identifying one thing as another rather than misperceiving senses
to misapprehend
vsto confuse
1 8.2

To understand something wrongly

focuses on wrong identity specifically rather than general misunderstanding
to misrecognize
vsto confuse
  • US
8.1

Mistake a person or object for a different one

focuses on wrong identity specifically rather than broader interpretation errors

Antonyms

1.8

Say who someone is or what something is

177 3.1

To notice differences between things or people

How Mistaken

to confuse
142 1.9
to mix up
  • Informal
65 2.7
to mistake
37 1.0

Surface Forms

confuse infinitive
confusing present participle
confuses third person singular
confused past
confused past participle

Morphology

confuse = fuse (semi-transparent) = con + fuse

The sense 'mistake one thing for another' is a metaphorical 'mixing up' of identities, which is derivable from 'con-' + 'fuse' but still requires mapping to the idea of confusing identities.

Etymology

Confuse comes from the Latin con- ('together') and fundere ('to pour'), which gives the image of things being mixed. A helpful way to remember the second meaning is to think of people or names being 'mixed up', so you mistake one person for another.