1. to cause surprise or confusion in someone; to perplex
2. to prove wrong; to contradict
3. to mix up or fail to distinguish between things

Examples

• The magician’s trick confounded the entire audience.
• Her calm reaction confounded his expectations.
• The research results confounded the scientists’ original hypothesis.
• Don’t confound correlation with causation in your analysis.
• The witness testimony confounded the prosecutor’s case.
• The complex instructions confounded the new employees.
• Critics who confound the artist with his work miss the point.