confound
Other forms: confounded; confounding; confounds
If you have an identical twin, you've probably tried dressing alike so that people confound you with, or mistake you for, one another. You've also probably learned that, unfortunately, this trick doesn’t work on your mom.
The verb confound means both "to mistake" and "to confuse." If you decide to treat yourself to a delicious dessert, you might find yourself confounded by the overwhelming number of choices. If you end up ordering the chocolate cake but the waiter brings you chocolate mousse, the waiter has somehow confounded those two options. Another meaning you may come across in literature is "to damn," as in "Confound it! You are the most exasperating person on the planet."
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be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly
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confuse, disconcert, flurry, put off
cause to feel embarrassment
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demoralise, demoralize
confuse or put into disorder
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amaze, baffle, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex
be a mystery or bewildering to
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disorient, disorientate
cause to be lost or disoriented
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mix up, stump
cause to be perplexed or confounded
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riddle
set a difficult problem or riddle
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elude, escape
be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by
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type of:
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be
have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
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confuse, disconcert, flurry, put off
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mistake one thing for another
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hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
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disappoint, let down
fail to meet the hopes or expectations of
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dash
destroy or break
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short-circuit
hamper the progress of; impede
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ruin
destroy or cause to fail
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betray, fail
disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
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come short, fall short
fail to meet (expectations or standards)
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disenchant, disillusion
free from enchantment
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undo
cause the ruin or downfall of
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break
cause the failure or ruin of
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shipwreck
ruin utterly
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overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof
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contradict, controvert, oppose
be resistant to
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answer
give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument)
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blackball, negative, veto
vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
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dissent, protest, resist
express opposition through action or words
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(mild expletive) consign to eternal punishment; bring to perdition
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Vocabulary lists containing confound
In this collection of twelve essays, the leader of New England's transcendentalist movement shares his philosophical ideas on different aspects of mid-nineteenth-century life. Read the full text here.
After a member of the royal court is murdered, half-dragon musical prodigy Seraphina gets drawn into the investigation and uncovers a plot to destroy peace in the kingdom of Goredd.
After a birthday gift brings magic to eleven-year-old Willodeen and her friend Connor, Willodeen goes on a mission to protect her favorite strange beasts known as screechers.
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