/ kənˈfjuːz; NAmE / verb [ vn ]
1.
to make sb unable to think clearly or understand sth :
They confused me with conflicting accounts of what happened.
2.
confuse A and / with B to think wrongly that sb/sth is sb/sth else
SYN mix up :
People often confuse me and my twin sister.
Be careful not to confuse quantity with quality.
3.
to make a subject more difficult to understand :
His comments only served to confuse the issue further.
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense rout, bring to ruin ): from Old French confus , from Latin confusus , past participle of confundere mingle together. Originally all senses of the verb were passive, and therefore appeared only as the past participle confused ; the active voice occurred rarely until the 19th cent. when it began to replace confound .