English Explanatory Dictionary

confound

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To perplex or puzzle.
To stun or amaze.
To fail to see the difference; to mix up; to confuse right and wrong.
To make something worse.
To combine in a confused fashion; to mingle so as to make the parts indistinguishable.
To cause to be ashamed; to abash.
To defeat, to frustrate, to thwart.
To damn (a mild oath).
To destroy, ruin, or devastate; to bring to ruination.

noun

A confounding variable.

Pronunciation

/kənˈfaʊnd/ en-us-confound.ogg

Word forms

confound confounds confounding confounded

Etymology

From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.

Synonyms

puzzle confuse mix up addle baffle lose embroil stick stump baffound bamboozle bedevil befuddle throw bemud bemuse bewilder bumfuzzle complicate confound confuddle confuzzle dazzle discombobulate disconcert blind dumbfound entangle ferhoodle flabagast flabbergast flabbergaster flurry fluster flummox fuddle jumble knot muddle muddy ravel perplex confounder

Derived words

baffound confoundable confoundation confounder confounding factor confounding variable confound it confoundment deconfound dumbfound reconfound unconfound

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