misread, misinterpret, muddy, jumble, misconstrue, mix up, interchange, conflate, confuse (two things), muddle something up, mistake (something for something else), take for, get something wrong, confound with, misspell, misname

bend, cycle, appear, mistake, spiral, fixate, distort, spin, claim, delude, reel, misunderstand, lapse into, minimize, dismiss, believe, run riot, trip, hallucinate, catastrophize, turn against, ignore (facts), slip into (delusional thinking), hide (the truth from oneself), stew (in delusional thoughts), jump (from thought to thought), glom onto, confuse (hallucinations with reality), deceive oneself, be unable to shake (a thought)

buzz, find something troubling, turn something over in one's mind, obsess, replay, catastrophize, fixate on, keep (vigil), glue (oneself to the screen), run (something through one's mind), overanalyze

blindside, twist, scatter, shatter, break, stun, panic, elude, muddy (a situation), flood, blind, distract, muddle, confound, stupefy, befuddle, bewilder, disorient, derail, fog, fluster, muddy the waters, cloud (one's thinking), block (perspective), lose one's train of thought

falter, hesitate, mistake, misread, misinterpret, muddle about, misconstrue, lose sight of, misunderstand, muddle something up, take for, get something wrong, confound with, lose (one's perspective), get the wrong idea, confuse (similar things), misconceive, miss the boat, mix up (with something else), miscalculate, delude oneself

fabricate, pin, attack (someone unjustly), assign (blame), expect (from others), cast (blame), contrive, assign, counter, fault (someone else), find fault with, place blame on (someone else), project onto (someone else), attribute (one's aggression to others)

complicate, rattle, stun, scramble, imply, obscure, riddle, blur, blind, muddy, distract, cloud, hoodwink, fake, mislead, obfuscate, muddle, baffle, fool, vex, confuse, confound, stupefy, befuddle, bamboozle, bewilder, mystify, nonplus, disorient, blunt (someone's judgment/perception), addle, stump, hide (evidence), fog, miscue, perplex, puzzle, boggle, jumble, misconstrue, discombobulate, contradict oneself, fluster, throw off-kilter

blindside, flatten, crush, strip, topple, demolish, wreck, destroy, paralyze, overpower, trap, beat down, drain, ravage, overwhelm, derail, ruin, hurt someone's image, sap, doom, suck out, spoil, tear someone apart, wreak havoc, break someone's will, finish someone off, defeat, cripple, disable, deplete, devastate, overcome, disrespect, go into shock, throw for a loop

jolt, stun, startle, surprise, trick, baffle, stupefy, befuddle, bamboozle, bewilder, stagger, mystify, nonplus, disorient, overwhelm, stump, perplex, discombobulate, shock, take by surprise, astonish, dumbfound, flummox, astound, unnerve, flabbergast, daze, faze, floor, amaze, alarm, upset, catch off guard, ambush, test (one's assumption), undermine, throw for a loop, throw off-kilter