confederate

1 of 3

adjective

con·​fed·​er·​ate kən-ˈfe-d(ə-)rət How to pronounce confederate (audio)
1
: united in a league : allied
2
Confederate : of or relating to the Confederate States of America

confederate

2 of 3

noun

plural confederates
1
2
Confederate : an adherent of the Confederate States of America or their cause

confederate

3 of 3

verb

con·​fed·​er·​ate kən-ˈfe-də-ˌrāt How to pronounce confederate (audio)
confederated; confederating

transitive verb

: to unite in a confederacy

intransitive verb

: to band together
confederative adjective

Examples of confederate in a Sentence

Noun the Yankees and the Confederates the police were able to track down his confederates once the thief started talking Verb the nations confederated in order to lower international trade barriers
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The provision was used often in the years immediately after the Civil War, but fell into disuse after Congress granted an amnesty to many confederate veterans in 1872. Nicholas Riccardi, Fortune, 21 Dec. 2023 Every member expelled in history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or confederate turncoats guilty of treason. ABC News, 3 Dec. 2023 Aldean — who in the past has courted controversy by wearing a t-shirt featuring a confederate flag and dressing in blackface as Lil Wayne for Halloween — has repeatedly denied that the song had any ill intent. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 18 Oct. 2023 The Army has finished renaming nine installations that previously honored confederate generals with the redesignation Friday of Fort Gordon in Georgia to Fort Eisenhower. Eleanor Watson, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2023 The trailer then features scenes of Reeves riding horses with his fellow officers and fighting both criminals and confederate soldiers all the while, members of his family arm themselves against those who combat their way of life. Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 7 Sep. 2023 Aldean — who in the past has courted controversy by wearing a t-shirt featuring a confederate flag and dressing in blackface as Lil Wayne for Halloween — denied on Tuesday that the song had any ill intent. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 20 July 2023 The NuSouth presented three different variations of the confederate flag, one with a red background, another in black, and a third with green. Essence, 11 Aug. 2022 The change was part of a broad Department of Defense initiative, motivated by the 2020 George Floyd protests, to rename military installations that had been named after confederate soldiers. Hannah Schoenbaum, Chicago Tribune, 2 June 2023
Noun
Six of his confederates had already pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Craig Silverman, ProPublica, 17 Jan. 2024 But Pétain’s regime, which had, to varying degrees, also administered much of the initial occupied zone, endured, even as the marshal’s power continued to be whittled away by the occupiers and their confederates within his own government. Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 21 Dec. 2023 In the 19th century, many former confederates were removed from Congress by Congress itself. Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 1 Jan. 2024 There was a great deal of concern voiced in debate that Howard's exclusion clause might leave the South ungovernable, with so many confederates poised to be disqualified from serving, even in state posts. Steven Portnoy, ABC News, 29 Dec. 2023 It was narrowly crafted to apply only to those who willingly took part in the Civil War, and it was only meant to deprive former confederates of their right to cast ballots in federal elections. Steven Portnoy, ABC News, 29 Dec. 2023 Faustus used his own expert knowledge of optics, light, and shadow to project large-scale images of Greeks and Trojans on a sheet, which a confederate shook so that the figures seemed to move. Anthony Grafton, Harper's Magazine, 11 Oct. 2023 But as the experiment progressed and the confederate mistreated one of the robots— which did not help with the task— people might have felt in conflict with the actions of the confederate. IEEE Spectrum, 19 Aug. 2020 Sachems And Sinners, An Informal History of Tammany Hall Even more disturbingly, Manton’s confederates included the underworld forces who, in tandem with the Tammany Hall political machine, ruled much of New York in the 1930s. Time, 25 July 2023
Verb
More than 170 years ago, before Canada confederated in 1867, Indigenous people in what’s now Northern Ontario signed treaties, ceding a vast territory north of Lake Superior and Lake Huron to the Crown in exchange for a promise: that the wealth flowing from the land would be shared with them. Amanda Coletta, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024 After Congress passed an amnesty for most of the former confederates the measure targeted in 1872, the provision fell into disuse until dozens of suits were filed to keep Trump off the ballot this year. Mark Sherman, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2024 The Kinfolk app’s launch comes as fierce debate rages about the monuments staring down at us from city centers: those that pay tribute to confederate leaders, slave owners, or other tarnished once-heroes. Andrew R. Chow, Time, 21 Nov. 2022 The holiday celebrates confederate soldiers such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. Mabinty Quarshie, USA TODAY, 15 June 2021 Early Thursday, the administration became aware of racist and confederate symbols of hate through a flag near a stairwell and defacing of a sidewalk, Principal David Travis said. Megan Jones, chicagotribune.com, 13 May 2021 As other cities have taken down monuments to confederate leaders, debate has arisen about what McKinney should do with the Throckmorton statue. Jon Arnold, Dallas News, 29 July 2020 By Tuesday morning, the cornerstone of the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument was removed, punctuating the city’s long legal fight to remove a monument dedicated to confederate veterans. al, 3 June 2020 Former Birmingham Mayor William Bell ordered a monument to confederate veterans covered in August 2017. Anna Beahm | Abeahm@al.com, al, 12 Feb. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'confederate.' 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

Adjective

Middle English confederat, from Late Latin confoederatus, past participle of confoederare to unite by a league, from Latin com- + foeder-, foedus compact — more at federal

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1531, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of confederate was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near confederate

Cite this Entry

“Confederate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confederate. Accessed 15 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

confederate

1 of 3 adjective
con·​fed·​er·​ate kən-ˈfed-(ə-)rət How to pronounce confederate (audio)
1
: united in a league : allied
2
capitalized : of or relating to the Confederate States of America
Confederate money

confederate

2 of 3 noun
1
2
capitalized : a soldier, citizen, or supporter of the Confederate States of America

confederate

3 of 3 verb
con·​fed·​er·​ate kən-ˈfed-ə-ˌrāt How to pronounce confederate (audio)
confederated; confederating
: to unite in a confederacy

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