Confusing
Misleading, Easy To Mix Up
い adjective
If you want to distract someone, try saying something confusing or misleading to them. They'll be so busy trying confusedly to interpret your comment that they'll become totally unable to focus on whatever it is they were originally doing.
紛らわしい is an adjective for things which are confusing because they're easy to mix up or easy to be misled by. Think similar-looking kanji (末 and 未, anyone?), places with the same name (London, as in England or Canada?), and celebrities you just can't seem to tell apart. Sometimes, it can refer to intentionally deceptive things too, like a button on a website tricking you into signing up for something. Either way, if it's easy to confuse for something else, then you can probably say it's 紛らわしい.
You already learned 紛らす, and this uses the same reading, but here's a mnemonic in case you need a reminder:
You know who is particularly confusing? That Maggie (まぎ) girl. She's confusing because her name keeps switching between Margaret and Maggie mid-conversation. You think she prefers Maggie, but at this point, you're honestly not even sure anymore.
紛らわしいこと
confusing matter
紛らわしいもの
confusing thing, thing that's easy to mix up with something else
紛らわしい名称
confusing name, name that's easy to confuse with something else
紛らわしい表現
misleading expression, expression that's easy to misinterpret
紛らわしい書き方
misleading way of writing
紛らわしい表現を使わないでください。
Please don't use misleading expressions.
似たような商品が多くて紛らわしいよね。
There are so many similar products that it's confusing, isn't it?
結局それはバスケットボールだったんですが、とても紛らわしかったです。私は完全に妊婦さんの大きなお腹だと思っていました。
In the end, it turned out to be a basketball, but it was really misleading. I was sure it was a pregnant woman's big belly.