confidante

noun

con·​fi·​dante ˈkän-fə-ˌdänt How to pronounce confidante (audio)
 also  -ˌdant,
-dənt
: confidant
especially : one who is a woman

Did you know?

Is it confident or confidant? (Or is it confidante?)

If you find yourself unsure whether you should choose confident or confidant don’t feel bad; confidant comes to English from the French word confident, and when the word first entered our language it was often spelled that way, rather than as confidant. The difference is quite simple: confidant is a noun (meaning "a person in whom you confide things"), and confident is an adjective (defined as “having confidence”). You may well be confident in your confidant, but you would not be confidant in your confident. Although this distinction has not always been observed by writers, confidante is generally used for a female confidant. The word confidant is more frequently used to describe a man, but it may be applied to either gender.

Examples of confidante in a Sentence

She was her closest friend and confidante. only her closest confidantes know what she's going through
Recent Examples on the Web Upon his death in 1991, Mercury bequeathed the property and all of its possessions to his close friend and confidante, Mary Austin. Catherine Nicholls, CNN, 27 Feb. 2024 Hollander, who is straight and, at fifty-six, a first-time dad, dismissed the idea that he is typecast as malicious gay men who betray their female confidantes. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 Plus, Thomas Kretschmann, playing the owner of Erwin’s auction house, and Anthony Head, playing Catherine’s confidante, are both underutilized. Courtney Howard, Variety, 7 Feb. 2024 Being able to call the famed author of Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood a close confidante was a mark of distinction in the most rarefied of circles. Kc Baker, Peoplemag, 31 Jan. 2024 No, not necessarily those intimates, but her confidantes, her hairdresser, her social secretary and, briefly, her young children. Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 26 Feb. 2024 The two made peace and strengthened their bond over time — indeed, the senior Ritchie became a tight business confidante as his son’s career took off. Detroit Free Press, 16 Feb. 2024 And most recently Yevgeny Prigozhin - former confidante who died with much of his Wagner mercenary elite in a suspicious plane crash last year. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 16 Feb. 2024 Queen Elizabeth never voiced her true opinion about Harry’s wife except to her closest confidantes, Seward wrote. Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 2 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'confidante.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French confidente, feminine of confident confidant

First Known Use

1662, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of confidante was in 1662

Dictionary Entries Near confidante

Cite this Entry

“Confidante.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confidante. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

confidante

noun
con·​fi·​dante ˈkän-fə-ˌdant How to pronounce confidante (audio)
-ˌdänt
: confidant
especially : one who is a woman

More from Merriam-Webster on confidante

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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