All 3 Uses of
confound
in
Jane Eyre
- I was amazed — confounded.†
p. 179.3confounded = confused or frustrated
- And really, after a day or two of confusion worse confounded, it was delightful by degrees to invoke order from the chaos ourselves had made.†
p. 451.9 *
- Confound these civilities!†
p. 152.8
Definition:
to confuse, prove wrong, frustrate, or express frustration
in various senses, including:
confuse or surprise -- sometimes specifically to confuse one thing with another
- "confounded by the puzzle" -- confused or perplexed
- "Test results confounded the experts." -- surprised and confused
- "Do not confound confidence with correctness." -- mistake one thing for another
prove wrong, defeat, or frustrate
- "The test results confounded my theory." -- proved wrong
- "Their defense confounded our offense." -- defeated or frustrated
make worse
- "She confounded the problem by painting without sanding." -- made worse
- "The task is complicated by other confounding factors." -- making worse
an exclamation expressing anger or frustration
- "Confound it! Will I ever get this thing to work?"
- "I don't understand the confounded directions!"