Confusion

/kənˈfjuːʒən/ · noun

Meaning

A lack of clarity or order..

Definitions by Sense

1. A lack of clarity or order.
2. The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
3. The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
4. Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.
6. (collective) A group of wildebeest.

Example Sentences

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.

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.

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.

Confusion of sex and gender continues when she begins to address what the sex-change operation achieves.

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 […]

"[…] In going to Mr Carlyle you have done the best thing possible; you have put your sister into the care of the shrewdest man in London." Whereat the object of this quite unexpected eulogy found himself becoming covered with modest confusion.

A group of wildebeest is called a confusion.

Synonyms for confusion

Antonyms for confusion

Related Words

Word Forms

• confusions

Usage Notes

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