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 This might have contributed to an alarming frenzy of ageist rhetoric and to the conflation of general cognitive aging with specific, diagnosable conditions. —

Washington Post, 11 July 2024 The design combines the rippling stainless steel found in Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and L.A.’s Walt Disney Concert Hall with the post-modern material conflation that defined his earlier works. —

Nicolas Stecher, Robb Report, 2 July 2024 The conflation of Palestinians with the villainous dark side of a good vs. evil conflict is nothing new, especially from the MAGA-verse. —

Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2024 No topic is off limits, including his girlfriend getting open heart surgery three months into their relationship, his overbearing Jewish mother, and his conflation of being loved with being trapped. —

Matt Grobar, Deadline, 24 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for conflation

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conflation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.