confusing

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con·fuse

(kən-fyo͞oz′)

v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es

v.tr.

a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; bewilder or perplex.

b. Archaic To cause to feel embarrassment.

a. To fail to differentiate (one person or thing) from another: confused effusiveness with affection.

b. To make more complex or difficult to understand: "The old labels ... confuse debate instead of clarifying it" (Christopher Lasch).

v.intr.

To make something unclear or incomprehensible: a new tax code that only confuses.

[Middle English confusen, from Old French confus, perplexed, from Latin cōnfūsus, past participle of cōnfundere, to mix together; see confound.]

con·fus′a·ble adj.

con·fus′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.

confusing

(kənˈfjuːzɪŋ)

adj

causing bewilderment; difficult to follow; puzzling

conˈfusingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•fus•ing

(kənˈfyu zɪŋ)

adj.

causing or tending to cause confusion.

[1840–50]

con•fus′ing•ly, adv.

con•fus′ing•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	confusing - causing confusion or disorientation; "a confusing jumble of road signs"; "being hospitalized can be confusing and distressing for a small child" disorienting - causing loss of physical or intellectual bearings; "making so many turns to the right and then the left was completely disorienting"; "a sharp blow to the head can be disorienting"
	2.	confusing - lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity; "sent confusing signals to Iraq"; "perplexing to someone who knew nothing about it"; "a puzzling statement" perplexing, puzzling unclear - not clear to the mind; "the law itself was unclear on that point"; "the reason for their actions is unclear to this day"

confusing

adjective bewildering, complicated, puzzling, misleading, unclear, baffling, muddling, contradictory, ambiguous, inconsistent, perplexing, clear as mud (informal) The statement they issued was highly confusing.
clear, simple, plain, straightforward, explicit, definite, understandable, uncomplicated

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

مُرْبِك

matoucí

forvirrende

verwirrend

συγκεχυμένος

confuso

hämmentävä

confusantdéroutant

zbunjujući

confuso disorientante

困惑させる

혼란시키는

nejasen

förvirrande

น่าสับสน

yanıltıcı

gây nhầm lẫn

使人糊涂的

confusing

[kənˈfjuːzɪŋ] ADJ [instructions, message] → confuso
it's a very confusing situation → la situación es muy confusa
the traffic signs are confusing → las señales de tráfico están poco claras
it's all very confusing → es muy difícil de entender

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

confusing

[kənˈfjuːzɪŋ] adj → déroutant(e), peu clair(e)
The traffic signs are confusing → Les panneaux de signalisation ne sont pas clairs.

confusing

adj → verwirrend

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

confusing

[kənˈfjuːzɪŋ] adj (signals) → ambiguo/a; (plot, layout) → confuso/a

confusing

→ مُرْبِك matoucí forvirrende verwirrend συγκεχυμένος confuso hämmentävä déroutant zbunjujući disorientante 困惑させる 혼란시키는 verwarrend forvirrende dezorientujący confuso сбивающий с толку förvirrande น่าสับสน yanıltıcı gây nhầm lẫn 使人糊涂的

References in classic literature ?

Suidas is confusing the two Artemisias, but he may be right in attributing the poem to about 480 B.C.

View in context

It would be an easy map if that were all, but there is also first day at school, religion, fathers, the round pond, needle-work, murders, hangings, verbs that take the dative, chocolate pudding day, getting into braces, say ninety-nine, three-pence for pulling out your tooth yourself, and so on, and either these are part of the island or they are another map showing through, and it is all rather confusing, especially as nothing will stand still.

View in context

These, however, were so mixed and confusing that I could make nothing of them.

View in context

Made giddy by the turbulent irruption of this multitude of staring faces into her cell of years, by the confusing sensation of being in the air, and the yet more confusing sensation of being afoot, by the unexpected changes in half-remembered objects, and the want of likeness between the controllable pictures her imagination had often drawn of the life from which she was secluded and the overwhelming rush of the reality, she held her way as if she were environed by distracting thoughts, rather than by external humanity and observation.

View in context

But when they got there Sunday, many were frustrated by crashes, glitches, buffering and a user interface that many of them found confusing.