Confusing

How to spell confusing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce confusing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does confusing mean?

1. adjectiveDifficult to understand because it is unclear, jumbled, or hard to follow.

Confusing in a sentence

• The assembly instructions were so confusing that nobody finished the bookcase.

• She found the new tax form genuinely confusing and asked an accountant for help.

Where does confusing 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 are poured together they blend into an indistinct mass, and from that physical image the sense drifted toward mixing things up in the mind so that they can no longer be told apart. English took the word in through Old French during the medieval period, where confondre carried meanings of mixing, ruining, and bewildering. The same fundere root gives us a whole family of relatives, including 'fuse', 'refund', and 'transfusion', all of which involve something flowing or being poured. The adjective 'confusing' grew from the present participle of the verb 'confuse', describing anything that produces that mental jumble.

How the word is built

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