confessor
noun
con·fes·sor
kən-ˈfe-sər 
senses 1 & 3 also ˈkän-ˌfe-sər,
sense 3 also ˈkän-fə-ˌsȯr
1
: one who gives heroic evidence of faith but does not suffer martyrdom
2
: one that confesses
3
a
: a priest who hears confessions
b
: a priest who is one's regular spiritual guide
Examples of confessor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Its main purpose is not the creation of aesthetic beauty out of the materials at hand (life, pain) but selfishness: relieving the confessor’s desire to confess.
—
Lauren Oyler, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2024
The outsize little girl, so clearly nonhuman and yet so sympathetic, is an older-than-her-years figure of commiseration, a confessor to kids and adults in a refugee camp and, wrenchingly, to a man from Gambia who describes his journey to the Continent.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
But it’s also filled with intimacy, as Nas, a primo confessor of the Tik Tok generation, gives interviews while in a towel, or while lying on the ground, with existential one-liners just pouring out of him.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2023
The same thing could be witnessed, in decades past, on more secular (but hardly less ceremonial) television programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show, where talk show luminaries act as confessors to erring movie stars.
—Ian Buruma, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2023
This is Benny’s domain, where over 23 years he’s served as confidant and confessor for the city’s most elite — and the people who want to feel that way for just one night.
—Claire Ballor, Dallas News, 12 Apr. 2023
One confessor told him not to worry so much.
—New York Times, 18 June 2021
Those who were imprisoned for their faith but released – called confessors — were venerated by their communities in the same way.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 25 Jan. 2023
Opened in 1804, the 110-acre cemetery — named after Louis XIV’s confessor, the Rev. François de La Chaise d’Aix — perches on a hillside peering down at central Paris.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2022
Lauren Oyler, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2024
The outsize little girl, so clearly nonhuman and yet so sympathetic, is an older-than-her-years figure of commiseration, a confessor to kids and adults in a refugee camp and, wrenchingly, to a man from Gambia who describes his journey to the Continent.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
But it’s also filled with intimacy, as Nas, a primo confessor of the Tik Tok generation, gives interviews while in a towel, or while lying on the ground, with existential one-liners just pouring out of him.
—Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2023
The same thing could be witnessed, in decades past, on more secular (but hardly less ceremonial) television programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show, where talk show luminaries act as confessors to erring movie stars.
—Ian Buruma, Harper's Magazine, 2 June 2023
This is Benny’s domain, where over 23 years he’s served as confidant and confessor for the city’s most elite — and the people who want to feel that way for just one night.
—Claire Ballor, Dallas News, 12 Apr. 2023
One confessor told him not to worry so much.
—New York Times, 18 June 2021
Those who were imprisoned for their faith but released – called confessors — were venerated by their communities in the same way.
—Joanne M. Pierce, The Conversation, 25 Jan. 2023
Opened in 1804, the 110-acre cemetery — named after Louis XIV’s confessor, the Rev. François de La Chaise d’Aix — perches on a hillside peering down at central Paris.
—Constant Méheut, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'confessor.' 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 confessor
Cite this Entry
“Confessor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confessor. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
confessor
noun
con·fes·sor
kən-ˈfes-ər
1
: one that confesses
2
: a priest who hears confessions
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