as in perplexing
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1
as in baffling
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
we were confounded by the player's remote control, which wasn't at all user-friendly
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in embarrassing
to throw into a state of self-conscious distress
his renewed popularity has confounded the critics who said his singing career was dead
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in confusing
to fail to differentiate (a thing) from something similar or related
I think you've confounded astrology with astronomy
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in refuting
to prove to be false
new discoveries that confound much of what archaeologists thought they knew about the Mayan civilization
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of confounding
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
Asghar Farhadi’s confounding new film, Parallel Tales, takes place in a pair of apartments located across the street from each other in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
The confounding findings reveal a big problem.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Putting his legal woes aside, Jackson’s life outside of performing was often bizarre and confounding, making for potentially intriguing scenes.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
Following those highs came a string of solid but unexciting records, which mostly stuck with Metric’s formula while adding the occasional left-field lyric about the Kool-Aid-drinking masses or confounding reference to QAnon.
—Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026
Oettinger, 27, is another confounding case.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 May 2026
The pair combine their talents to unravel crime mysteries, confounding and surprising one another along the way, in classic odd couple style.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026
Plenty of confounding factors could still explain the results, so Mitra, Golder, and Topchy implemented a few controls.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Grief is one of the most confounding aspects of the human experience.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 17 Apr. 2026
In 2021, one year into D’Amaro’s tenure and following COVID shutdowns, Disney did away with FastPass and introduced a confounding and very costly series of pay-to-skip passes, which require timing advanced booking of limited slots in these formerly free-to-enter shorter lines.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 5 Feb. 2026
The Eagles were a confounding defending champion throughout the regular season.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026
Tuesday will go down as one of Boston’s most confounding losses of the season, a 4-3 defeat in 11 innings to the Baltimore Orioles in which the club went 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
—Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, King was confounding Dodgers hitters just as badly.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 19 May 2026
Asghar Farhadi’s confounding new film, Parallel Tales, takes place in a pair of apartments located across the street from each other in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 15 May 2026
The confounding findings reveal a big problem.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Putting his legal woes aside, Jackson’s life outside of performing was often bizarre and confounding, making for potentially intriguing scenes.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
Following those highs came a string of solid but unexciting records, which mostly stuck with Metric’s formula while adding the occasional left-field lyric about the Kool-Aid-drinking masses or confounding reference to QAnon.
—Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026
Oettinger, 27, is another confounding case.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 May 2026
The pair combine their talents to unravel crime mysteries, confounding and surprising one another along the way, in classic odd couple style.
—Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 29 Apr. 2026
Plenty of confounding factors could still explain the results, so Mitra, Golder, and Topchy implemented a few controls.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confounding
Adjective
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The right-hander has struggled to maintain his velocity this season, a perplexing trend largely stemming from an inconsistency in his mechanics.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
At the same time, the moon in Pisces makes social dynamics and exchanges more hazy and perplexing, especially with Mercury approaching a semi-square with Neptune in Aries, which will become exact tomorrow morning.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
11 May 2026
Verb
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The slow starts are baffling to Becht.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
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As the castle’s internal order collapses under the weight of a string of baffling crimes, Araki strikes a fragile alliance with Kuroda Kanbei – a razor-minded captive languishing in his own dungeon – in a race to root out a traitor before Oda’s army closes in.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Lutnick's voluntary closed-door interview comes amid a monthslong procession of powerful people summoned before the committee, many of whom have been subjected to embarrassing revelations in the more than 3 million pages of records known as the Epstein files.—
Graham Kates,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
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The Game 4 defeat – the no-silver-lining, embarrassing 6-1 loss – left a particularly rancid taste in everyone’s mouth.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Winners are chosen by a mix of votes from the two, translated into points by a system confusing even to Eurovision fans.—
Jill Lawless,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
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Clients hiring us for AI narrative work are under investor pressure to move fast, and the cost of confusing speed with substance will show up on their balance sheets.—
Kathleen Lucente,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
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King’s break with Johnson was not about refuting his historic contributions.—
Mark Conway,
Baltimore Sun,
9 May 2026
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That’s not refuting the secrecy.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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For devoted Auteuil fans, his lack of an international profile is genuinely puzzling.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
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League sources have whispered since late October that Mosley’s job could be in jeopardy, and although Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman declined to make an in-season coaching change despite several puzzling lopsided defeats, the Magic announced Mosley’s dismissal Monday.—
Josh Robbins,
New York Times,
4 May 2026
Verb
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But even more than engaging the big ideas that Emma’s revelation triggers — pun somewhat intended — Lee and Borli wanted to craft an experience that would mimic its main characters’ bewildering interiority.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
6 Apr. 2026
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There aren’t many ways to earn a club’s first win better than bewildering the league’s defending champions at their place.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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There was also some disconcerting history to consider.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
17 Apr. 2026
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There’s a lot of disconcerting news about AI in journalism lately.—
Theresa Gaffney,
STAT,
5 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Confounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confounding. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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