confound
confound Lexical Profile
confound Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To cause surprise or confusion in someone, especially by acting against their expectations.
"The sudden shift in the witness's testimony continued to confound the legal team."
To prove a theory, expectation, or prediction wrong.
"The resilient economy managed to confound the gloomy forecasts of financial analysts."
To mix up something with something else so that the individual elements become difficult to distinguish or analyze.
"Hidden lifestyle factors can easily confound the results of an observational health study."
To defeat or thwart a plan, aim, or adversary.
"Tighter cybersecurity measures helped the agency confound the hackers' attempts to breach the server."
Word Nuance & Usage
In statistics and scientific research, 'confound' has a technical meaning: it describes when an extraneous factor mixes with the variable being studied, making it impossible to determine which factor caused the observed effect.
• Rhymes for confound
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French confondre, from Latin confundere ('to pour together, mix, or confuse'), formed from com- ('together') and fundere ('to pour').