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confusion

confusion

9 3.1
A mixing of different things so you cannot tell them apart
  • noun
  • /kənˈfjuːʒən/
translation icon : confusión
  • So to me, this Supreme Court's confusion is emblematic of a larger cultural confusion.
  • circle of confusion
  • confusion matrix
  • cultural confusion

Because there's a confusion between belief and faith.

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Examples

  • But there is here an issue about the confusion between what a machine is and what a human being is.

  • The two images swam in his head in a confusion of envy and anger.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • And I think what it is, is a confusion of money for real resources.

  • Or it could be a confusion by the eye as to what is figure and what is ground.

    Academic text (2017)
  • But the problem is what it leaves after such a decision, mass confusion and chaos.

  • All it takes is a lack of transparency to create confusion and chaos.

  • So my question to you is, you know, do these mixed messages play a very significant role in the confusion that's already in place?

  • At a workbench, under a single lamp, Stephen stands amongst a confusion of tools and wire.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Simultaneous economic and political reform has produced confusion in societal values.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The teacher noticed a confusion among the students over the new instructions.

Synonyms

mess
vsconfusion
1.0

A situation in which things are untidy and confused

focuses specifically on elements blending until identities are lost
jumble
vsconfusion
20 4.6

A confused mixture of things or ideas

emphasizes mixing until individual identities are no longer clear
hodgepodge
vsconfusion
14 7.3

A messy mixture of different things thrown together

stresses merging that blurs the original distinctions between elements
mishmash
vsconfusion
7 6.4

A confused mix of different things

focuses on blending that erases the separate identities of parts
mingle-mangle
vsconfusion
  • Archaic
9.9

A confused mix of different things like old toys and books

highlights joining that makes separate identities hard to see
muddlement
vsconfusion
7.9

A state of confusion where things are unclear or messy

centres on elements mixing so their individual identities disappear
indistinction
vsconfusion
8.6

Not clearly separate from something else

means these items are mixed so their separate identities blur
undifferentiation
vsconfusion
9.9

A thing that is not divided into different parts or types

adds the idea that such lack of division comes from blending parts

Antonyms

286 3.5

A difference that shows how two things or people are not the same

89 2.6

The process of moving apart or staying apart

Idioms

With much hurry and disorder

Compounds

A state when a person cannot think clearly and feels lost

1 4.5

A situation where people mistake one brand for another because of similar logo or packaging

A state of mind when you feel unclear and cannot think or decide

How Mixed

confusion
9 3.1
mixing
51 1.8
mixture
58 1.2

Surface Forms

confusion singular
confusions plural

Morphology

confusion = confuse (transparent) = confuse + ion

The sense of mixing or blurring identities is a direct extension of 'confuse' ('to mix together') plus '-ion'.

Etymology

Confusion has the same root as fusion and comes from Latin con- ('together') and fundere ('to pour'), meaning things are 'poured together' and mixed. That's why confusion can mean a mixing where the parts lose their separate identity and are hard to tell apart.