Asked by Big Papa

confound meaning and example

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
"Confound" (verb) — to cause someone to be confused, surprised, or unable to think clearly; or to mix up two things so they are mistaken for each other. In research it also means that an outside factor (a confounder) makes it unclear whether the effect is due to the thing being studied.

Pronunciation: /kənˈfaʊnd/

Examples:
- Everyday: "The magician’s trick confounded the audience — nobody could figure out how it was done."
- To defeat/ruin: "The last-minute rain confounded our plans for a picnic."
- Statistics/research: "The apparent link between coffee and heart disease was confounded by smoking, because coffee drinkers in the study were more likely to be smokers."

Synonyms: confuse, bewilder, perplex, baffle.