confusion
noun
Simple meaning
A situation or feeling in which something is hard to understand.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhnfyoozhuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kənfˈjuʒən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A lack of clarity or order.
The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
A mistake that results from taking one thing to be another
“He changed his name in order to avoid confusion with the notorious outlaw.”
Lack of understanding due to dementia.
The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A lack of clarity or order.
Used this way, confusion is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It quietly approves while staying precise.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Clear and precise
- Usage feel
- Precise and approving
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use confusion
- “He changed his name in order to avoid confusion with the notorious outlaw.”noun
- “The army retreated in confusion.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
In disorderly haste.
A mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behavior.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.