Confused

How to spell confused

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce confused

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does confused mean?

1. adjectiveUnable to think clearly or to understand something.
2. verbMixed up or mistook one thing for another, in the past tense.

Confused in a sentence

• adjective

  The new tax form left her completely confused about what to enter.

• verb

  The messy handwriting confused the two account numbers on the invoice.

• adjective

  He looked confused when the directions sent him down a dead end street.

• verb

  She confused the meeting times and arrived an hour early.

Where does confused come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb confundere, which literally meant 'to pour together' or 'to mingle', built from the prefix con- 'together' and fundere 'to pour'. When liquids or ideas are poured together they lose their distinct boundaries, so the sense naturally drifted toward 'to throw into disorder' and then 'to muddle the mind'. The past participle confusus passed into Old French and reached English in the 1300s, at first carrying the idea of being brought to ruin or thrown into chaos. By the 1500s the modern mental sense, being unable to think clearly, had settled in. The same fundere root pours through relatives like 'refund', 'fuse' and 'transfusion', and remembering 'pour together' helps fix the single s and the -used ending that trips writers expecting a z sound.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• fus (from fundere: to pour)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)