different between confusion vs obscurity

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French confusion, from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?fju???n/
• Rhymes: -u???n

Noun

confusion (usually uncountable, plural confusions)

1. A lack of clarity or order.
2. The state of being confused; misunderstanding.
3. The act of mistaking one thing for another or conflating distinct things.
4. Lack of understanding due to dementia.
5. (archaic) A state of shame or embarrassment.

Synonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): discombobulation
• (state of being confused): bewilderment, disarray

Antonyms

• (lack of clarity or order): clarity
• (misunderstanding): distinction

Translations

French

Etymology

From Middle French confusion, from Old French confusion, borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem, from verb confundo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.fy.zj??/

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Derived terms

• prêter à confusion

Further reading

• “confusion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French confusion.

Noun

confusion f (plural confusions)

1. confusion

Descendants

• French: confusion

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin confusio, confusionem.

Noun

confusion f (oblique plural confusions, nominative singular confusion, nominative plural confusions)

1. spread (act or instance of spreading)

Descendants

• English: confusion
• Middle French: confusion
  • French: confusion

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscurité, from Latin obsc?rit?s; synchronically analyzable as obscure +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????ti/, /?b?skj????ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???ti/, /?b?skj??ti/
• Hyphenation: ob?scur?ity

Noun

obscurity (countable and uncountable, plural obscurities)

1. (literary) Darkness; the absence of light.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 24

     I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.

2. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
3. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

Synonyms

• (the state of being unknown): unknownness

Antonyms

• (the state of being known): fame
• (the state of being clear): clarity

Related terms

• obscure

Translations