confounding
Throwing you off
Confounding describes something that baffles or defeats understanding: a confounding mystery, confounding results.
It can also mean something that frustrates expectations or plans: The team's confounding loss ended their championship hopes.
In research and statistics, confounding refers to variables that distort the apparent relationship between factors being studied.
Causing confusion or bewilderment
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- mystifyingCausing complete confusion
- befuddlingCausing mental confusion
bewildering · disconcerting · disorienting · discombobulating · flummoxing · stupefying · nonplussing · unsettling
Puzzling and obscure
- crypticObscure in meaning
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- inexplicableCannot be accounted for
- unfathomableBeyond comprehension or measurement
arcane · esoteric · abstruse · impenetrable · opaque · sphinxlike · oracular · sibylline
Prone to fluctuation
- covariateVariable controlled in analysis
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
- spuriousFalse though appearing genuine
- correlationStatistical relationship measure
artifact · noise · lurking · extraneous · controlled · adjusted · stratified · randomized
Obstructing intended outcomes
- foilingDefeating an attempt
- frustratingCausing irritation, blocking progress
- defeatingOvercoming in competition
- underminingWeakening by covert means
derailing · disrupting · stymieing · hindering · impeding · sabotaging · counteracting · nullifying
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- complicatedDifficult to understand
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- tangledTwisted confusedly together
knotty · byzantine · tortuous · elaborate · multifaceted · nuanced · thorny · entangled
puzzling
Causing confusion or bewilderment
- bafflingImpossible to understand
- perplexingCausing mental confusion
- mystifyingCausing complete confusion
befuddling · bewildering · disconcerting · disorienting · discombobulating · flummoxing · stupefying · nonplussing · unsettling · discomfiting
enigmatic
Puzzling and obscure
- crypticObscure in meaning
- inscrutableImpossible to understand
- inexplicableCannot be accounted for
unfathomable · arcane · esoteric · abstruse · impenetrable · opaque · sphinxlike · oracular · sibylline · delphic
variable
Prone to fluctuation
- covariateVariable controlled in analysis
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
- spuriousFalse though appearing genuine
correlation · artifact · noise · lurking · extraneous · controlled · adjusted · stratified · randomized · observational
thwarting
Obstructing intended outcomes
- foilingDefeating an attempt
- frustratingCausing irritation, blocking progress
- defeatingOvercoming in competition
undermining · derailing · disrupting · stymieing · hindering · impeding · sabotaging · counteracting · nullifying · negating
intricate
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- complicatedDifficult to understand
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
tangled · knotty · byzantine · tortuous · elaborate · multifaceted · nuanced · thorny · entangled · involuted
- confusing actionsmisleading, misdirecting, obfuscating, muddling, garbling
- experimentsexperiment, experiments, test, tests, trials
- research methodsexperiment, hypothesis, deduction, experiments, induction
- clinical trialsclinical trial, placebo, double-blind, control group, double blind
- research validityvalidity, reliability, replicability, reproducibility, generalizability
- mysteriousmysterious, cryptic, enigmatic, arcane, obscure
confoundingclarifying
Making something understandable
illuminating · elucidating · explanatory · clear · straightforward
confoundingpredictable
Able to be foreseen
expected · unsurprising · foreseeable · anticipated · confirming
confoundingreassuring
Restoring calm or confidence
comforting · settling · calming · satisfying · soothing
- confounding variableUnmeasured cause affecting outcomes