What does confound mean?
Word: Confound
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Confound means to confuse and surprise someone; also to prove a person or an idea wrong.
Synonyms: bewilder, perplex, astonish
Antonyms: enlighten, clarify
Word origin: From Old French confondre, from Latin confundere, to pour together or mix up.
How do you spell confound?
Syllables: con - found
Tricky part: The second part sounds like found and is spelt with ou, as in sound and round; students sometimes write confond or confownd.
Watch out for: confond, confownd, cunfound
Memory tip: When a puzzle confounds you, the answer cannot be found, and the two words end with the same ound.
Confound in a sentence
Example 1: The magician's final trick confounded even the adults in the audience.
Example 2: The underdog team confounded the experts by reaching the final.
Example 3: The strange symbols on the old coin confounded the museum staff.
Fun Fact
In science, a confounding factor is a hidden cause that makes two things look connected when they may not be; good experiments try to rule such factors out.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. confound 2. ponder 3. scorn a. baffle b. contempt c. reflect
a) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
b) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
Show answer
d) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b. Each word has a partner with a similar meaning: confound and baffle, ponder and reflect, scorn and contempt.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) comfort
b) conform
c) comfound
d) confess
Show answer
c) comfound. Comfort takes an m, but the puzzling verb begins with con, like confess and conform.
Sound Check
Which word does not rhyme with confound?
a) impound
b) aground
c) beyond
d) astound
Show answer
c) beyond. Beyond ends with the short o of pond, so it does not rhyme; astound, aground and impound end like found.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
The twist at the end of the mystery novel ___ every reader in our book club.
a) conformed
b) consented
c) confided
d) confounded
Show answer
d) confounded. Confided means told a secret, conformed means followed the rules and consented means agreed; a twist that baffles readers confounded them.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If a result confounds the scientists, it ___.
a) bores them completely
b) proves them all right
c) surprises and puzzles them
d) pleases them greatly
Show answer
c) surprises and puzzles them
2. Which word comes from the same Latin verb as confound?
a) confide
b) confuse
c) conform
d) confirm
Show answer
b) confuse
