Definition of "confusion" []

• The act of confusing or the state of being confused: Backstage confusion made the rehearsal difficult. (noun)
• An instance of being confused: "After his awakening to Chicano identity, he briefly mastered his inner confusions and found an articulate voice” ( David C. Unger). (noun)
• Psychology Impaired orientation with respect to time, place, or person; a disturbed mental state. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Here, to simplify the discussion, we are using the term confusion in place of unawareness (ignorance), but without any connotation of disorganization, disorientation, or dementia."
• "Johnson's divisions, and one from Pickett's corps, flung itself upon it, and drove Crawford's and Ayre's division in confusion from the field for nearly two miles."
• "Lieutenant and boat's crew put off in confusion from the sinking vessel, and begged of Commodore Ingraham to cease firing, telling him that the water was already up to the berth-deck, and that they surrendered."