Alison LurieRosemary MahoneyDavid BarronBill 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
Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
On Sunday, Lake seemed to again conflate the border situation with election outcomes.
—Ronald J. Hansen, USA TODAY, 13 May 2024
Right-wing commentators conflated the Great Reset initiative with a 2016 World Economic Forum blog post about bug protein and a 2013 book about insect farming published by the United Nations.
—Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 3 May 2024
Laxe’s new title conflates three film financing models: Regional co-production in Spain; international co-production; and streamer investment.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 6 May 2024
Jewish students expressed a range of perspectives on the encampment: gratitude it’s been peaceful so far, hesitancy about walking past it, and a feeling that the protesters have conflated Jewish students’ opinions on the war with the Israeli government’s policies.
—Kelly Meyerhofer, Journal Sentinel, 6 May 2024
At the same time, student protestors have expressed concern that politicians often conflate criticism of Israel’s government with antisemitism.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY, 2 May 2024
Some Jewish students have long warned against conflating antisemitism with views critical of Israel's government and blanket portrayals of all protesters as antisemitic.
—Lauren Peller, ABC News, 1 May 2024
Antiwar protesters have cautioned against conflating criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza with hate speech.
—Melissa Chan, NBC News, 30 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'conflate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near conflate
Cite this Entry
“Conflate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflate. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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