confound


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con·found

 (kən-found′, kŏn-)
tr.v. con·found·ed, con·found·ing, con·founds
1. To cause to become confused or perplexed. See Synonyms at perplex.
2. To fail to distinguish; mix up: Don't confound fiction and fact.
3. To make (something bad) worse: Do not confound the problem by losing your temper.
4. To cause to be ashamed; abash: an invention that confounded the skeptics.
5. Used in mild curses: Confound you!
6.
a. To frustrate or thwart: trivial demands that confounded the peace talks.
b. Archaic To defeat or overthrow (an enemy).

[Middle English confounden, from Anglo-Norman confundre, from Latin cōnfundere, to mix together, confuse : com-, com- + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]

con·found′er n.
con·found′ing·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

confound

(kənˈfaʊnd)
vb (tr)
1. to astound or perplex; bewilder
2. to mix up; confuse
3. to treat mistakenly as similar to or identical with (one or more other things)
4. to curse or damn (usually as an expletive in the phrase confound it!)
5. to contradict or refute (an argument, etc)
6. to rout or defeat (an enemy)
7. obsolete to waste
[C13: from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere to mingle, pour together, from fundere to pour]
conˈfoundable adj
conˈfounder n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•found

(kɒnˈfaʊnd, kən-; for 6 usu. ˈkɒnˈfaʊnd)

v.t.
1. to perplex or amaze; bewilder; confuse.
2. to throw into confusion or disorder.
3. to throw into increased confusion or disorder.
4. to treat or regard erroneously as identical; mix or associate by mistake: truth confounded with error.
5. to mingle so that the elements cannot be distinguished or separated.
6. to damn (used in mild imprecations): Confound it!
7. to contradict or refute.
8. to put to shame; abash.
9. Archaic.
a. to defeat or overthrow.
b. to bring to ruin or naught.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French confoundre < Latin confundere to mix]
con•found′er, n.
con•found′ing•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

confound


Past participle: confounded
Gerund: confounding

Imperative
confound
confound
Present
I confound
you confound
he/she/it confounds
we confound
you confound
they confound
Preterite
I confounded
you confounded
he/she/it confounded
we confounded
you confounded
they confounded
Present Continuous
I am confounding
you are confounding
he/she/it is confounding
we are confounding
you are confounding
they are confounding
Present Perfect
I have confounded
you have confounded
he/she/it has confounded
we have confounded
you have confounded
they have confounded
Past Continuous
I was confounding
you were confounding
he/she/it was confounding
we were confounding
you were confounding
they were confounding
Past Perfect
I had confounded
you had confounded
he/she/it had confounded
we had confounded
you had confounded
they had confounded
Future
I will confound
you will confound
he/she/it will confound
we will confound
you will confound
they will confound
Future Perfect
I will have confounded
you will have confounded
he/she/it will have confounded
we will have confounded
you will have confounded
they will have confounded
Future Continuous
I will be confounding
you will be confounding
he/she/it will be confounding
we will be confounding
you will be confounding
they will be confounding
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been confounding
you have been confounding
he/she/it has been confounding
we have been confounding
you have been confounding
they have been confounding
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been confounding
you will have been confounding
he/she/it will have been confounding
we will have been confounding
you will have been confounding
they will have been confounding
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been confounding
you had been confounding
he/she/it had been confounding
we had been confounding
you had been confounding
they had been confounding
Conditional
I would confound
you would confound
he/she/it would confound
we would confound
you would confound
they would confound
Past Conditional
I would have confounded
you would have confounded
he/she/it would have confounded
we would have confounded
you would have confounded
they would have confounded
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.confound - be confusing or perplexing toconfound - be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher"
demoralize - confuse or put into disorder; "the boss's behavior demoralized everyone in the office"
bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, baffle, mystify, nonplus, perplex, puzzle, stupefy, amaze, gravel, vex, pose, stick, beat, get - be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This question really stuck me"
disconcert, flurry, confuse, put off - cause to feel embarrassment; "The constant attention of the young man confused her"
disorient, disorientate - cause to be lost or disoriented
be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
2.confound - mistake one thing for another; "you are confusing me with the other candidate"; "I mistook her for the secretary"
misidentify, mistake - identify incorrectly; "Don't mistake her for her twin sister"
obnubilate, obscure, blur, confuse - make unclear, indistinct, or blurred; "Her remarks confused the debate"; "Their words obnubilate their intentions"
mix up, jumble, confuse - assemble without order or sense; "She jumbles the words when she is supposed to write a sentence"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

confound

verb
1. bewilder, baffle, amaze, confuse, astonish, startle, mix up, astound, perplex, surprise, mystify, flummox, boggle the mind, be all Greek to (informal), dumbfound, nonplus, flabbergast (informal) For many years medical scientists were confounded by these seemingly contradictory facts.
2. disprove, contradict, refute, negate, destroy, ruin, overwhelm, explode, overthrow, demolish, annihilate, give the lie to, make a nonsense of, prove false, blow out of the water (slang), controvert, confute The findings confound all the government's predictions.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

confound

verb
1. To cause to be unclear in mind or intent:
Informal: throw.
Idiom: make one's head reel.
2. To cause (a person) to be self-consciously distressed:
3. To make incapable of finding something to think, do, or say:
Informal: flummox, stick, stump, throw.
Slang: beat.
Idiom: put someone at a loss.
4. To take (one thing) mistakenly for another:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يُربِك، يُحيّر، يُذهِل
ohromitzmást
forvirre
rugla; gera höggdofa
pritrenkti
apmulsinātizjaukt

confound

[kənˈfaʊnd] VT (= confuse) → confundir; (= amaze) → pasmar, desconcertar
confound it! (o.f.) → ¡demonio!
confound him! (o.f.) → ¡maldito sea!
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

confound

[kɒnˈfaʊnd] vt
(= confuse) → confondre
(= amaze) → déconcerter
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

confound

vt
(= amaze)verblüffen
(= throw into confusion)verwirren, durcheinanderbringen
(liter: = mistake for sth else) → verwechseln
(inf) confound it!vermaledeit (dated)or verflixt (inf)noch mal!; confound him!der vermaledeite (dated)or verflixte (inf)Kerl!
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

confound

[kənˈfaʊnd] vt (confuse) → confondere; (amaze) → sconcertare; (defeat) → sconfiggere
confound it! → al diavolo!
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

confound

(kənˈfaund) verb
to puzzle and surprise greatly.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Take up the spear and shield and arise to help us; confound and put to shame those who have devised evil against us, may they be before the faces of Thy faithful warriors as dust before the wind, and may Thy mighty Angel confound them and put them to flight; may they be ensnared when they know it not, and may the plots they have laid in secret be turned against them; let them fall before Thy servants' feet and be laid low by our hosts!
"Confound it!" exclaimed the Canadian, "I know well enough!
But in America, the coins current being the sole arms of the aristocracy, their display may be said, in general, to be the sole means of the aristocratic distinction; and the populace, looking always upward for models,,are insensibly led to confound the two entirely separate ideas of magnificence and beauty.
Indeed, place this reversed skull (scaled down to the human magnitude) among a plate of men's skulls, and you would involuntarily confound it with them; and remarking the depressions on one part of its summit, in phrenological phrase you would say --This man had no self-esteem, and no veneration.
Pennsylvania may not choose to confound her interests in a connection so adverse to her policy.
A writer who intermixes great quantity of Greek and Latin with his works, deals by the ladies and fine gentlemen in the same paultry manner with which they are treated by the auctioneers, who often endeavour so to confound and mix up their lots, that, in order to purchase the commodity you want, you are obliged at the same time to purchase that which will do you no service.
My friends, I will not be mixed up and confounded with others.
The mules, however, confounded by the hurly-burly and disliking their new riders kicked up their heels and dismounted half of them, in spite of their horsemanship.
Yet I could not but perceive that she was at times unhappy and dissatisfied with herself or her position, and truly I myself was not quite contented with the latter: this assumption of brotherly nonchalance was very hard to sustain, and I often felt myself a most confounded hypocrite with it all; I saw too, or rather I felt, that, in spite of herself, 'I was not indifferent to her,' as the novel heroes modestly express it, and while I thankfully enjoyed my present good fortune, I could not fail to wish and hope for something better in future; but, of course, I kept such dreams entirely to myself.
"Don't hold that confounded thing right under my nose; the mustard makes my eyes smart."
Yet is it bright with many a gem; i, the wearer, see not its far flashings; but darkly feel that i wear that, that dazzlingly confounds. 'Tis iron --that I know--not gold.
Indeed, your last letter has amazed and confounded me,--so much so that, on once more looking into the recesses of my heart, I perceive that I was perfectly right in what I did.