From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconfusioncon‧fu‧sion /kənˈfjuːʒən/ ●●○ S3 W3 noun 1 CONFUSED[countable, uncountable] when you do not understand what is happening or what something means because it is not clearconfusion about/over/as to There was some confusion as to whether we had won or lost.create/lead to confusion The diversion led to considerable confusion.2 CONFUSED[countable, uncountable] a situation in which someone wrongly thinks that a person or thing is someone or something else To avoid confusion, the teams wore different colours.confusion between There is a confusion in the public mind between psychology and psychiatry.3 CONFUSED[uncountable] a feeling of not being able to think clearly about what you should say or do, especially in an embarrassing situation His confusion at meeting her there was quite apparent.in confusion Matt stared at her in confusion.4 DISORGANIZED[countable, uncountable] a very confusing situation, that usually has a lot of noise and action, so that it is difficult for someone to understand it or control it SYN chaos a scene of indescribable confusionconfusion of There was a confusion of shouts and orders as the ship prepared to depart.COLLOCATIONSverbscause/create confusionEnglish spelling often causes confusion for learners.lead to/result in confusionThe differing instructions led to confusion.add to the confusion (=make something more confusing)There were a lot of rumours, which added to the confusion.throw/plunge somebody into confusionThe unexpected news threw us all into confusion.clear up the confusion (=explain something more clearly)The chairman said that he would try to clear up the confusion.confusion arises (=begins)The confusion arose because of a complete misunderstanding.adjectivesgreat confusionWe looked at each other in great confusion.complete/total/utter confusionCandy's eyes showed her total confusion.considerable confusionThe movie jumps backwards and forwards in time, which causes considerable confusion.general confusionThere was general confusion about the effects of the new law.mental confusionMental confusion is one of the symptoms of the disease.phrasesa state of confusionPeople were in a state of confusion and close to panic.(in order) to avoid confusionDoctors should explain their instructions to patients carefully, to avoid any confusion.
Examples from the Corpus
confusion• However, nowhere else has dressing down caused so much angst and confusion as in the routine workday.• We made our way through the noise and confusion of the marketplace to our hotel.• To avoid confusion, the teams wore different colors.• The linguistic phenomena we see in the texts reflect not classical fusion of law but post-classical confusion of language.• If the conscious level of the patient is affected - drowsiness, confusion, lethargy and unresponsiveness.• The final scene of the play threw much of the audience into confusion.• The new rules have caused a lot of confusion.• There is a lot of confusion among parents.• Jake's confusion at meeting Sherri at the party was obvious.• I hope the meeting will clear up people's confusion.• There is still confusion over who is responsible for the accident.• With all the confusion, nobody noticed the two boys leave.• The bombers escaped in the confusion following the explosion.• Whatever his intentions about the succession, it was almost certainly not the confusion which actually occurred.• As a result they further misrepresent the characters and by misusing them have added to the confusion.considerable confusion• There proved to be considerable confusion in terminology used in the responses of interviewees.• There had been considerable confusion over the interpretation of the embargo, the inquiry was told.• She jumped backwards and forwards in her narrative, creating considerable confusion in Dougal's mind.• After sundown the Confederates made an attack on the right creating considerable confusion.• The existence of sub-sects such as the Zadokites and the Nazareans has generated considerable confusion and uncertainty among biblical scholars.• The young of these species are quite similar, which has led to considerable confusion in their identification and classification.• There was considerable confusion in the administration over the correct procedure.confusion between• Dan says there has been a lot of confusion between his name and his brother Don's.in confusion• Terri stopped in confusion as everyone turned to look at her. 