Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-FOUND'ED-LY, adv.

Enormously; greatly; shamefully; as, he was confoundedly avaricious. [A low word.]

CON-FOUND'ED-NESS, n.

The state of being confounded. – Milton.

CON-FOUND'ER, n.

One who confounds; one who disturbs the mind, perplexes, refines, frustrates and puts to shame or silence; one who terrifies.

CON-FOUND'ING, ppr.

Mixing and blending; putting into disorder; perplexing; disturbing the mind; abashing, and putting to shame and silence; astonishing.

CON-FRA-TER'NI-TY, n. [It. confraternita; Fr. confraternité; con and L. fraternitas, fraternity, from frater, brother.]

A brotherhood; a society or body of men, united for some purpose or in some profession; as, the confraternity of Jesuits.

CON-FRI-CA'TION, n. [It. confricazione, friction; L. confrico; con and frico, to rub. See Friction.]

A rubbing against; friction. – Bacon.

CON-FRI'ER, n. [Fr. confrere.]

One of the same religious order. – Weever.

CON-FRONT', v.t. [It. confrontare; Sp. and Port. confronta; Fr. confronter; con and front, the forehead, or front, L. frons.]

1. To stand face to face in full view; to face; to stand in front. He spoke and then confronts the bull. – Dryden.
2. To stand in direct opposition; to oppose. The East and West churches did both confront the Jews, and concur with them. – Hooker.
3. To set face to face; to bring into the presence of; as an accused person and a witness, in court, for examination and discovery of the truth; followed by with. The witnesses are confronted with the accused, the accused with one another, or the witnesses with one another. – Encyc.
4. To set together for comparison; to compare one thing with another. When I confront a medal with a verse, I only show you the same design executed by different hands. – Addison.

CON-FRONT-A'TION, n.

The act of bringing two persons into the presence of each other for examination and discovery of truth.

CON-FRONT'ED, pp.

Set face to face, or in opposition; brought into the presence of.

CON-FRONT'ING, ppr.

Setting or standing face to face, or in opposition, or in presence of.

CON-FRONT'MENT, n.

Comparison. – Oley.

CON-FUSE', v.t. [s as z. L. confusus; Fr. confus; from L. confundo. See Confound.]

1. To mix or blend things, so that they can not be distinguished. Stunning sounds and voices all confused. – Milton. Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise. – Is. ix.
2. To disorder; as, a sudden alarm confused the troops; a careless bookkeeper has confused the accounts.
3. To perplex; to render indistinct; as, the clamor confused his ideas.
4. To throw the mind into disorder; to cast down or abash; to cause to blush; to agitate by surprise, or shame; to disconcert. A sarcastic remark confused the gentleman and he could not proceed in his argument. Confused and sadly she at length replied. – Pope.

CON-FUS'ED, pp.

1. Mixed; blended, so that the things or persons mixed can not be distinguished. Some cried one thing, and some another; for the assembly was confused. – Acts xix.
2. Perplexed by disorder, or want of system; as, a confused account.
3. Abashed; put to the blush or to shame; agitated; disconcerted.

CON-FUS'ED-LY, adv.

In a mixed mass; without order or separation; indistinctly; not clearly; tumultuously; with agitation of mind; without regularity or system.

CON-FUS'ED-NESS, n.

A state of being confused; want of order, distinction or clearness. The cause of the confusedness of our notions is want of attention. – Norris.

CON-FUS'ING, ppr.

Mixing; confounding.

CON-FU'SION, n.

1. In a general sense, a mixture of several things promiscuously; hence, disorder; irregularity; as, the confusion of tongues at Babel.
2. Tumult; want of order in society. The whole city was filled with confusion. – Acts xix. God is not the author of confusion. – 1 Cor. xiv.
3. A blending or confounding; indistinct combination; opposed to distinctness or perspicuity; as, a confusion of ideas.
4. Abashment; shame. O Lord, let me never be put to confusion. – Ps. lxxi. We lie in shame, and our confusion covereth us. – Jer. iii.
5. Astonishment; agitation; perturbation; distraction of mind. Confusion dwelt in every face. – Spectator.
6. Overthrow; defeat; ruin. The makers of idols shall go to confusion together. – Is. xlv.
7. A shameful blending of natures, a shocking crime. Levit. xviii, 23; xx, 12.

CON-FUT'A-BLE, a. [See Confute.]

That may be confuted, disproved or overthrown; that may be shown to be false, defective or invalid; as, an argument or a course of reasoning is confutable.

CON-FU'TANT, n.

One who confutes or undertakes to confute. – Milton.

CON-FU-TA'TION, n.

The act of confuting, disproving, or proving to be false, or invalid; refutation; overthrow; as of arguments, opinions, reasoning, theory, or error.

CON-FUTE', v.t. [L. confuto; con and futo; Sp. confutar; It. confutare. Class Bd.]

1. To disprove; to prove to be false, defective or invalid; to overthrow; as, to confute arguments, reasoning, theory, error.
2. To prove to be wrong; to convict of error, by argument or proof; as, to confute an advocate at the bar; to confute a writer.

CON-FUT'ED, pp.

Disproved; proved to be false, defective or unsound; overthrown by argument, fact or proof.

CON-FUTE'MENT, n.

Confutation, disproof. – Milton.

CON-FUT'ER, n.

One who disproves, or confutes. – Morton.