Confusion, n. [F. confusion, L. confusio.]
1. The state of being mixed or blended so as to produce indistinctness or error; indistinct combination; disorder; tumult.
The confusion of thought to which the Aristotelians were liable. Whewell.
Moody beggars starving for a time Of pellmell havoc and confusion. Shak.
2. The state of being abashed or disconcerted; loss self-possession; perturbation; shame.
5 more senses
Confusion dwelt in every face And fear in every heart. Spectator.
3. Overthrow; defeat; ruin.
Ruin seize thee, ruthless king, Confusion on thy banners wait. Gray.
4. One who confuses; a confounder. [Obs.] Chapmen.
Confusion of goods (Law), the intermixture of the goods of two or more persons, so that their respective portions can no longer be distinguished. Blackstone. Bouvier.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for confusion; he lists it under amazement, chagrin, perplexity, revolution.
Where he writes about it:
Amazement has in it something of confusion or bewilderment; but confusion and bewilderment may occur without amazement, as when a multitude of details require instant attention. — from amazement
Astonishment may be without bewilderment or confusion. — from amazement
Perplexity (L. per, through, and plecto, plait) is the drawing or turning of the thoughts or faculties by turns in different directions or toward contrasted or contradictory conclusions; confusion (L. confusus, from confundo, pour together) is a state in which the mental faculties are, as it were, thrown into chaos, so that the clear and distinct action of the different powers, as of perception, memory, reason, and will is lost; bewilderment is akin to confusion, but is less overwhelming, and more readily recovered from; perplexity, accordingly, has not the unsettling of the faculties implied in confusion, nor the overwhelming of the faculties implied in amazement or astonishment; it is not the magnitude of the things to be known, but the want of full and definite knowledge, that causes perplexity. — from perplexity
With an excitable person bewilderment may deepen into confusion that will make him unable to think clearly or even to see or hear distinctly. — from perplexity
Confusion, disorder, riot, and tumult are incidental and temporary outbreaks of lawlessness, but may not be anarchy. — from revolution