1
as in cursed
deserving of one's condemnation or displeasure
that confounded dog chewed up my shoe
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2
as in perplexed
faced with difficulty or uncertainty about what to say, think, or do
the sudden burden of familial responsibility has left him anxious and confounded
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3
as in bewildered
suffering from mental confusion
since their house is old and impressive-looking, they are frequently imposed upon by confounded tourists
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1
as in baffled
to throw into a state of mental uncertainty
we were confounded by the player's remote control, which wasn't at all user-friendly
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2
as in embarrassed
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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3
as in confused
to fail to differentiate (a thing) from something similar or related
I think you've confounded astrology with astronomy
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4
as in refuted
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 confounded
Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 16 Aug. 2025
The displeasure of it gave way to absurdity, out of which emerged a mutual, confounded glee.
—Kent Russell, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020
In Europe itself, Greece has so far confounded predictions by avoiding the kind of mass outbreaks that have claimed tens of thousands of lives in Italy, France, and Britain.
—Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 May 2020
And with wild swings on Tuesday, the markets proved those predictions correct, a marker of how confounded investors appear as the covid-19 economic crisis takes a fuller form.
—Jacob Bogage, BostonGlobe.com, 31 Mar. 2020
The Germans are no less confounded than the Democrats.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 14 June 2019
Learn how to work the confounded thing at free Android smartphone workshops being held in South Florida, sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons.
—Doreen Christensen, Sun-Sentinel.com, 9 Mar. 2018
For decades, recovery stories like this confounded researchers, who characterized autism as a lifelong condition.
—Brendan Borrell, Slate Magazine, 22 Sep. 2017
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 7 Jan. 2026
His remarks have confounded Danish and Greenlandic officials.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 5 Jan. 2026
Even if the jokes sometimes confounded people.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Netflix , meanwhile, remains a long-standing holding because the company has repeatedly confounded predictions of its demise.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 18 Nov. 2025
Without Irving available, Dallas head coach Jason Kidd has struggled to fully trust new point guard D'Angelo Russell (a summer signing by Harrison), whose trick-or-treat offense and lackluster defense have confounded several of his prior NBA stops.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
Surely there exist teenagers, as confounded by their classmates’ fascination with the number 67 as their parents, who simply Googled it.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2025
Travelers confounded by flight cancellations that may soon cascade across the system.
—ABC News, 9 Nov. 2025
But teasing apart why that happens is difficult, because human studies are confounded by so many factors – diet, smoking stress, lifestyle.
—New Atlas, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The Vikings defense hounded Maye, a veteran unit that ranked second in takeaways last year and confounded veteran quarterbacks with its exotic pressure packages.
—Verb
And no defense has confounded a stout Denver front this season like Los Angeles.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for confounded
Adjective
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Are the Ducks … drumroll please … cursed?—
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Notably, season 2 concludes with the Shibuya Incident, an event that left Tokyo in ruins and resulted in cursed spirits killing civilians across the city, according to Crunchyroll.—
Adjective
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Fallon, slightly perplexed and towering over Williams, awaits instruction.—
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Those late audits have caused ongoing comments by engaged residents who are perplexed that year after year the town’s government is not able to provide the same audit the state’s other 168 municipalities complete and submit to the public and the state’s budget office.—
Adjective
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The movie took liberties, but White's fight for Stuart to be a mouse-like boy is an important part of his history, even if some are bewildered by it.—
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Uma is bewildered at this new world, while Gopal can’t so much as look at her.—
Verb
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One thing that baffled me a little were the flashbacks.—
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The team behind the shock discovery (in more ways than one) is baffled by this beautiful arc of material, which defies expectations and current theories surrounding such stellar remains.—
Verb
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During our first visit, Maryam, embarrassed by her English, refused to ask the salesperson a question.—
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We’re all supposed to be embarrassed by prizes or feel above them or apart from them.—
Verb
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Sassounian, for his part, doesn’t think there’s any risk the two California Couriers would ever be confused with each other.—
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Many of the event’s attendees were confused about — or ignorant of — what had occurred on the other side of the court house.—
Verb
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Trump administration claims that Good attacked or tried to run over ICE agents before the shooting have been refuted by the videos captured during the incident.—
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The New York Civil Liberties Union refuted Noem’s statements about sanctuary city laws.—
Adjective
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More than anything, though, Jessie is someone who clearly just really freaking loves to crosscountry ski.—
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My freaking customers are now fans.—
Cite this Entry
“Confounded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confounded. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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