conflation

noun

con·fla·tion kən-ˈflā-shən

plural conflations

Synonyms of conflation next

: 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

: 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

Examples of conflation in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

This is a dangerous conflation and an insult to women who choose to cook. —

Mina Holland, Vogue, 11 Jan. 2025 Podcaster Grant, who has a few other problems with the film, doesn’t think this conflation counts as one. —

Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Dec. 2024 The conflation of the end of geopolitics and the end of history offered an especially enticing prospect to the United States: the idea that the country could start putting less into the international system and taking out more. —

Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 17 Apr. 2014 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 See all Example Sentences for conflation