Meaning & use

confound

verb·Advanced

Last updated

To cause surprise or confusion in someone, especially by contradicting their expectations, or to mix something up with something else.

See it in a sentence

The magician's trick confounded the entire audience.

Researchers must be careful not to confound the two variables in their experiment.

A note on using this word

In science and statistics, a 'confounding variable' is one that obscures the true relationship between the variables being studied.

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