Origin: Latin suffix -sion
Confusion has 6 different meanings across 1 category:
a mental state characterized by a lack of clear and orderly thought and behavior
"a confusion of impressions"
a feeling of embarrassment that leaves you confused
"The awkward silence after his clumsy joke left me in a state of confusion, unsure if he was joking or genuinely unaware of how inappropriate it had been."
an act causing a disorderly combination of elements with identities lost and distinctions blended
"the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel"
A lack of clarity or order.
"The cluttered workspace filled with scattered papers and tangled cords created a sense of confusion that made it hard to find anything."
In plain English: Confusion is when you feel completely lost and don't know what's going on because things are mixed up or unclear.
"The confusing instructions left everyone wondering what to do next."
The word entered English via the Old French confusion, which was borrowed from the Latin confusio. It originally referred to a state of being mixed together or jumbled up before taking on its modern sense of mental bewilderment.