different between imbroglio vs confusion

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian imbroglio (“tangle, entanglement, muddle”) (im-, alternative form of in- (“prefix forming verbs denoting derivation”) + broglio (“confusion; intrigue, fraud, rigging, stuffing”); see also imbrogliare (“to tangle”)), cognate with and probably from an earlier form of French embrouiller (“to embroil, muddle”) (em- (“em-”), a form of en- (“en-, prefix meaning ‘caused’”) + brouiller (“to confuse, mix up”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?b???lj??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?b?o?ljo?/
• Rhymes: -??lj??
• Hyphenation: im?bro?glio

Noun

imbroglio (plural imbroglios or imbrogli)

1. A complicated situation; an entanglement.
   • 2013, Frances Whiting, chapter 19, in Walking on Trampolines, Sydney, N.S.W.: Pan Macmillan Australia, ?ISBN; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, February 2015, ?ISBN page 207:

     I could have phoned you with all this, Tallulah, but knowing you as I have over the years, when you and I have both been a party to some of Duncan's little imbroglios, I thought I should talk to you in person.

Synonyms

• snarl (noun)

Related terms

Translations

French

Etymology

From Italian imbroglio (“tangle”), from imbrogliare (“to tangle”), cognate with and probably from an earlier form of French embrouiller (“muddle, embroil”), from em- (“en-”) + brouiller. Doublet of embrouille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.b??.ljo/

Noun

imbroglio m (plural imbroglios)

1. a complicated situation; an entanglement

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

From imbrogliare (“to tangle”), cognate with and probably from an earlier form of French embrouiller (“muddle, embroil”), from em- (“en-”) + brouiller.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /im?br??.?o/
• Hyphenation: im?bro?glio

Noun

imbroglio m (plural imbrogli)

1. tangle, entanglement, muddle, scrape

   Synonyms: impiccio, intrico, pasticcio

2. cheat, swindle, trick, diddle, fraud

   Synonyms: frode, inganno, truffa

Related terms

Verb

imbroglio

1. first-person singular present indicative of imbrogliare

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