confounding

fe’l verb

1. To make something worse. Don't confound the situation by yelling.
2. To cause to be ashamed; to abash. His actions confounded the skeptics.
3. To damn (a mild oath). Confound the lady!
4. To perplex or puzzle.

ot noun

1. The act by which things are confounded, or confused.
2. The process by which an apparent association between an exposure and an outcome is actually explained by another factor.