confound means A confounding variable.
confound is pronounced /kənˈfaʊnd/.
Why “confound” is a great word
To cause surprise or confusion that makes someone unable to think clearly. From Middle English confounden, from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō ("to pour together, mix up, confuse"). Unlike perplex, which suggests a state of lingering puzzlement born of complexity, or dumbfound, which emphasizes a speechless paralysis from pure shock, to confound is to be ambushed by the incongruous—the mental equivalent of having two distinct liquids poured into one indistinguishable solution. It is the seasoned detective encountering a motive that makes no sense, the precise watchmaker seeing a gear that shouldn't fit but does, the moment a familiar street turns inexplicably alien under your feet. Confound is the betrayal of the expected, leaving the mind not merely puzzled but unmoored, standing in the wreckage of its own assumptions.
Etymology
From Middle English confounden (“destroy, ruin, perplex”), from Anglo-Norman cunfundre and Old French confondre, from Latin cōnfundō (“to mingle, mix together”). Related to found (“to melt (metals in a foundry)”) (but not to found (“to start”), nor to find) and to fusion.
noun
- A confounding variable.
verb
- To perplex or puzzle.
- To stun or amaze.
- To fail to see the difference; to mix up; to confuse right and wrong.
- To make something worse.e.g.“Don't confound the situation by yelling.”
- To combine in a confused fashion; to mingle so as to make the parts indistinguishable.
- To cause to be ashamed; to abash.e.g.“His actions confounded the skeptics.”
- To defeat, to frustrate, to thwart.
- To damn (a mild oath).e.g.“Confound you!”
- To destroy, ruin, or devastate; to bring to ruination.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- bewilder 89% match — To confuse, disorientate, or puzzle someone, especially with many different choices. vs confound →
- nonplus 89% match — A state of bewilderment or perplexity. vs confound →
- perplexity 89% match — The state or quality of being perplexed. vs confound →
- discomfit 89% match — To embarrass (someone) greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert. vs confound →
- bewildered 88% match — Baffled, confused, mystified, at a loss, not thinking clearly, or uncertain. vs confound →
- bafflement 88% match — The result or state of being baffled, confused, or puzzled; a shocked feeling of perplexed bewilderment, caused by being utterly unable to understand something or to move on from one's incomprehension. vs confound →
- consternation 88% match — Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for reflection; terror, combined with amazement; dismay. vs confound →
- baffle 88% match — To confuse or perplex (someone) completely; to bewilder, to confound, to puzzle. vs confound →