verb
confound
kuhn-FOWND
Confound (verb) means to completely puzzle or baffle someone. Example: “The magician's trick confounded the entire audience.”
verb
1
To completely puzzle or baffle someone.
"The magician's trick confounded the entire audience."
"Economists were confounded by the sudden market crash."
2
To mix up or fail to distinguish between two things.
"It's easy to confound correlation with causation in statistics."
3
To defeat or ruin someone's plans.
"Her clever counter-argument confounded his whole strategy."
noun
1
In statistics, a variable that distorts the apparent relationship between two other variables (a "confounding variable").
"Age turned out to be a confound the researchers hadn't controlled for."
How to use confound
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo baffle someone, or to mix things up so badly they can't be told apart.
Common mistake
Confound is a bit stronger/more formal than confuse — often used for something that genuinely stumps experts, not just everyday mix-ups.
Easily confused with
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Word forms
- Plural
- confounds
- Third person singular
- confounds
- Past tense
- confounded
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The magician's trick _____ the entire audience.
Etymology
From Old French confondre, from Latin confundere, "to pour together, mix up" — the same root that gives us "confuse".
Synonyms
View more →Antonyms
Related words
Rhymes for confound
See all rhymes for confound →Frequently asked questions
What does “confound” mean?
The word “confound” means to completely puzzle or baffle someone. In plain terms, to baffle someone, or to mix things up so badly they can't be told apart.
How do you pronounce “confound”?
“Confound” is pronounced kuhn-FOWND (/kənˈfaʊnd/ in IPA).
How do you use “confound” in a sentence?
Here is “confound” used in a sentence: “The magician's trick confounded the entire audience.”
What part of speech is “confound”?
Depending on how it is used, “confound” can be a verb and a noun.
Where does the word “confound” come from?
The word “confound” comes from Latin. From Old French confondre, from Latin confundere, "to pour together, mix up" — the same root that gives us "confuse".
How many meanings does “confound” have?
“Confound” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to completely puzzle or baffle someone.
