confound
kun-FOUNDverbMeaning to confuse and surprise; also, to prove a prediction wrong
Memory hook con-FOUND: the experts FOUND they were wrong. Everyone said the little team couldn’t win, but they did. The experts found they were wrong, and the surprise win confounds them.
The tiny team confounded the experts by winning the whole tournament.
In context The results confounded the scientists; the plants kept in the dark had somehow grown taller than the ones in the sun, the opposite of what everyone expected.
Similar confuse, baffle, astonish, contradict
Opposite confirm, clarify
From Latin confundere, “to pour together, to mix up”: con (together) + fundere (to pour).