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View synonyms for confound

confound

[ kon-found, kuhn-; kon-found ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to perplex or amaze, especially by a sudden disturbance or surprise; bewilder; confuse:

    The complicated directions confounded him.

    Synonyms: nonplus, daze, dumbfound, astound

  2. to throw into confusion or disorder:

    The revolution confounded the people.

  3. to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
  4. to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake:

    truth confounded with error.

  5. to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
  6. to damn (used in mild imprecations):

    Confound it!

  7. to contradict or refute:

    to confound their arguments.

  8. to put to shame; abash.
  9. Archaic.
    1. to defeat or overthrow.
    2. to bring to ruin or naught.
  10. Obsolete. to spend uselessly; waste.


confound

/ kənˈfaʊnd /

verb

  1. to astound or perplex; bewilder
  2. to mix up; confuse
  3. to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
  4. kɒnˈfaʊnd to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it! )
  5. to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
  6. to rout or defeat (an enemy)
  7. obsolete.
    to waste
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • conˈfounder, noun
  • conˈfoundable, adjective
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Other Words From

  • con·found·a·ble adjective
  • con·found·er noun
  • in·ter·con·found verb (used with object)
  • pre·con·found verb (used with object)
  • un·con·found verb (used with object)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of confound1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English conf(o)unden, from Anglo-French confoundre, from Latin confundere “to mix,” equivalent to con- con- + fundere “to pour”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of confound1

C13: from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to mingle, pour together, from fundere to pour
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Example Sentences

One thing Kaleido has been careful to demonstrate — and it’s sad to think that this is a differentiator — is that its products work with people whose skin tone and hair confound other solutions.

That framing puts the wellbeing of business over the wellbeing of people, to already confounding results.

From Eater

We’ve bought into the fiction that the management structures and systems that confound and constrain us can be amended only by those at the top of the pyramid, or by their appointees in HR, planning, finance, and legal.

From Quartz

Bamboozle is one of those words that has been confounding etymologists for centuries.

Samuel Scarpino, a professor at Northeastern University who studies infectious diseases, said that it can be very difficult, even in a sophisticated model, to separate all of the confounding factors that could be at play, like geography.

The increase in recognition of autism spectrum disorders in Western countries continues to confound and confuse.

Patriarchy is powerful, but it is also fragile, and transgender people confound its simple dichotomies.

Yet, as a whole, the events that transpired between 1900 and 2000 B.C.E. still manage to confound the contemporary imagination.

He may be an exception, but his example proves that grace can confound the expectations and machinations of curial politics.

To complicate and confound matters further, North Korea has done more than simply throw grenades.

“Confound it, no;” rejoined Mr. Simmery, stopping for an instant to smash a fly with the ruler.

Then confound your slow coaches down here; thats all, said the doctor, walking away.

Weld is a totally distinct word from woad, but most dictionaries confound them.

These proverbs remind us of Bacon: "Specious words confound virtue."

What has happened between you and the communiers, whom may the pest carry off and hell confound!

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