conflation

noun

con·​fla·​tion kən-ˈflā-shən 

plural conflations

: the action or result of conflating:

a(1)

: blend, fusion

What needs to be highlighted is the power that the state wields through conflations of people and place, and policies and programs.

—Thomas Klak

(2)

: confusion

The conflation of lie and lay is an old problem and, admittedly, an understandable one.

—Cullen Murphy

Clearly the dominant American culture confuses us Mennonites with the Amish, who in fact began as an insurgent faction rebelling from the Mennonites. America's conflation is reasonable, since the Mennonites and the Amish have historically overlapped in many lifestyle choices.

—Rhoda Janzen

b

: a composite reading or text

But this book is not simply a conflation of old dispatches from one of the world's forgotten trouble spots.

—William Boyd

Synonyms

• admixture
• alloy
• amalgam
• amalgamation
• blend
• cocktail
• combination
• composite
• compound
• emulsion
• fusion
• intermixture
• meld
• mix
• mixture
• synthesis

Examples of conflation in a Sentence

the word “robustious” is probably a conflation of “robust” and “boisterous”

Recent Examples on the Web

In Chani’s view, this misleading conflation of Saturn and disruption has become mainstream because millennials and Gen Z drive the conversation on the internet. —Rebekah Pahl, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024

Fox News’ Laura Ingraham is half-heartedly walking back her show’s conflation of two prominent Black women on-air Monday night: Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor in President-elect Trump’s election interference case and New York attorney general Letitia James. —Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 26 Nov. 2024

In the right hands, this conflation of narrative and critique can have dazzling results. —Sloane Crosley, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2024

The conflation of events influenced her and Fingscheidt’s decision to build a nonlinear screenplay and lean into its literary feel. —Jake Kring-Schreifels, TIME, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined above