conflate

verb

con·flate kən-ˈflāt

conflated; conflating; conflates

Synonyms of conflate next

transitive verb

: to bring together : blend

Even more often, outsiders conflate the couple, and credit them with each other's characteristics.—

Alison Lurie

This unsettling book—conflating journalism, personal reportage, sociology and philosophical inquiry …—

Rosemary Mahoney

: confuse

Given its name, St. Thomas in Houston has on occasion been conflated with St. Thomas in Minnesota …—

David Barron

: to combine (things, such as two versions of a text) into a composite whole

For there are two substantive texts, the quarto published in 1597 and the folio in 1623. Modern editions usually conflate the pair to produce what the editor judges to be the best and most plausible hybrid.—

Bill Overton

Did you know?

We’re not just blowing hot air when we tell you that conflate can actually be traced back to the same roots as the English verb blow. Conflate comes from conflatus, a form of the Latin verb conflare (“to blow together, to fuse”), which was formed by combining the prefix com-, meaning “with” or “together,” with the Latin verb flare, meaning “to blow.” Blow’s ancestor, the Old English word blāwan, shares an ancestor with flare. When two or more things are conflated, they are figuratively “blown together” either by someone’s confusion or ingenuity. Other descendants of flare in English include flavor, inflate, and, well, flatulent.

Examples of conflate in a Sentence

be careful not to conflate gossip with real news the movie conflates documentary footage and dramatized reenactments so seamlessly and ingeniously that viewers may not know what is real and what is not

Recent Examples on the Web

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Ridley-Thomas’ lawyers had already accused prosecutors of conflating bribery and gratuities. —

Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2024 Correction, September 19, 11 am ET: A previous version of this story conflated the number of applicants with the number of applications sent through the Common App. —

Allie Volpe, Vox, 19 Sep. 2024 Iraola likely won’t conflate correlation with causation as the Cherries suffered defeat in both of Adams’ recent starts. —

Greg O'Keeffe, The Athletic, 25 Nov. 2024 When Ted Deutch was first elected five years after Peter Deutsch left office, some occasionally conflated them. —

Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 14 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for conflate