be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher"
If someone or something confounds you, they make you feel surprised or confused, often by showing you that your opinions or expectations of them were wrong. The choice of Governor may confound us all
perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment; "obviously bemused by his questions"; "bewildered and confused"; "a cloudy and confounded philosopher"; "just a mixed-up kid"; "she felt lost on the first day of school"
An independent variable and an extraneous variable are confounded when their effects on the dependent variable cannot be distinguished from each other Often a comparative study using a control group is used to avoid confounding variables