confuse
Throw someone off
To confuse is to make unclear or difficult to understand: The instructions only confused me further.
You can confuse a person by bewildering them, or confuse a situation by muddling it.
To confuse one thing with another is to mistake them for each other: People always confuse the twins.
Confused describes both the mental state and the thing causing it: a confused old man, a confused explanation.
Cause utter confusion
- baffleConfuse or perplex
- mystifyConfuse beyond understanding
- flummoxTo thoroughly confuse
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
disconcert · nonplussed · stumped · dumbfounded · stupefy · bamboozle · vex · puzzlement
Confuse or disorder
- mistakeWrong action or decision
- conflateMerge distinct elements
- blurLack of sharpness
- interchangeReciprocal transfer between parties
swap · misidentify · jumble · muddle · blend · merge · amalgamate · lump together
Twist into confusion
- muddleDisordered, bewildered state
- complicateMake more difficult
- embroilInvolve in strife
- convoluteRoll or twist together
cloud · obscure · tangle · snarl · enmesh · mess up · garble · scramble
Lacking sense of direction
- lostUnable to navigate
- dizzySensation of spinning
- astrayOff the right path
- unbalancedLacking equilibrium or stability
adrift · displaced · staggered · flustered · vertigo · unsettled · misled · misguided
Make something understandable
- understandGrasp the meaning
- comprehendTo fully understand
- elucidateTo make understood
- illuminateSupply with radiance
explain · untangle · clear up · unravel · sort out · simplify · demystify · disambiguate
perplex
Cause utter confusion
puzzle · disconcert · nonplussed · stumped · dumbfounded · stupefy · bamboozle · vex · puzzlement · incomprehension
mix up
Confuse or disorder
interchange · swap · misidentify · jumble · muddle · blend · merge · amalgamate · lump together · equate
entangle
Twist into confusion
- muddleDisordered, bewildered state
- complicateMake more difficult
- embroilInvolve in strife
convolute · cloud · obscure · tangle · snarl · enmesh · mess up · garble · scramble · obfuscate
disoriented
Lacking sense of direction
unbalanced · adrift · displaced · staggered · flustered · vertigo · unsettled · misled · misguided · turned around
clarify
Make something understandable
- understandGrasp the meaning
- comprehendTo fully understand
- elucidateTo make understood
illuminate · explain · untangle · clear up · unravel · sort out · simplify · demystify · disambiguate · make sense
- misunderstandingmisunderstand, misinterpret, miscommunication, misconception, misconstrue
- spellsspell, cast, conjure, curse, enchantment
- mind gamesmind game, head game, head games, mind games, intimidation
- everyday mistakesslip, typos, trip, spelling errors, fall
- disruptdisrupt, disturb, upset, disorder, disorganize
- status effectsdebuffed, poison, hexed, burn, cursed
confuseclarify
Make something understandable
enlighten · explain · illuminate · elucidate · inform
confuseorganize
Put into systematic order
order · untangle · unscramble · straighten out · arrange
- confused lookExpression of bafflement
- confused faceExpression showing lack of understanding
- mental confusionImpaired clarity of thought
- source confusionMistaking where memory came from
- Dazed and ConfusedStunned and mentally unclear
- identity confusionUnclear sense of self
confused, confusion, confusing, confuses, confusedly, confusions, confusingly, unconfused, confusable