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
Cnn.com, Mercury News, 31 July 2025
In many ways, Maxwell has always been in charge – becoming a confidante of financier Jeffrey Epstein and connecting the rich and famous to turning the tables on lawyers during a deposition.
—Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 30 July 2025
That work will now fall to his replacement, Irene Parker, the satellite division’s third-in-command and a close confidante of Jacobs, according to a former NOAA official.
—Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 25 July 2025
Wiles had told confidantes that some of her contacts from her personal phone had been stolen by a hacker.
—Thomas Brewster, Forbes.com, 3 June 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 7 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
confidante
noun
Share