confidante
noun
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
Meredith Kile, People.com, 8 Apr. 2025
There’s so much to share from a lifetime of experience, but a dwindling number of confidantes as the average nonagenarian outlives their friends, spouses, and loved ones.
—Jennifer Hauser, CNN, 25 Mar. 2025
Eventually, some of those confidantes followed and pursued a secular life as well.
—Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Her relationships with her father, godmother and confidante, Lizzie, who is a housekeeper for the Murray family, are wonderfully well-written.
—The Know, The Denver Post, 2 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for confidante
Cite this Entry
“Confidante.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confidante. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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confidante
noun
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