confederacy

noun

con·fed·er·a·cy | \kən-ˈfe-d(ə-)rə-sē

plural confederacies

Definition of confederacy

1 : a league or compact for mutual support or common action : alliance

2 : a combination of persons for unlawful purposes : conspiracy

3 : the body formed by persons, states, or nations united by a league specifically, capitalized : the 11 southern states seceding from the U.S. in 1860 and 1861

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about confederacy

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Examples of confederacy in a Sentence

a confederacy of native tribes the last state to join the Confederacy

Recent Examples on the Web

Forrest was a general in the confederacy, a slave owner and a leader in the Ku Klux Klan. — NBC News, "Tennessee lawmakers punish Memphis for removing Confederate statues," 18 Apr. 2018 And not everybody in the South was in favor of the confederacy. — Lily Rothman, Time, "New Orleans Mayor on Fixing the Story of Race in America: ‘If It Was Taught One Way, It Can Be Unlearned’," 19 Mar. 2018 And yet the Trump administration has constantly and repeatedly fallen all over themselves to lionize the confederacy and its heroes. — Jack Moore, GQ, "The Trump Administration Really Likes Defending Robert E. Lee, Huh?," 1 Nov. 2017 Durham, N.C. (AP) -- Duke University removed a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee early Saturday after it was vandalized amid a national debate about monuments to the Confederacy. — Bloomberg.com, "Duke University Removes Damaged Robert E. Lee Statue," 19 Aug. 2017 Yet Mr. Northam has little appetite to make Virginia’s counties and cities uproot their memorials to the Confederacy and says the decision should remain up to the localities. — Jonathan Martin, New York Times, "Charlottesville and Trump’s Response Reshape Virginia Gubernatorial Race," 19 Aug. 2017 His father, a druggist, was the town's mayor and negotiated with Union troops as the war broke badly for the Confederacy. — Mark Jacob, chicagotribune.com, "How a former Chicago office boy built Charlottesville's Gen. Lee statue," 18 Aug. 2017 In recent years, state legislatures and city governments beyond Virginia have been forced to respond to the demands of activists who insist that tributes to the Confederacy have no place in 21st-century public space. — Lindsey E. Jones, Teen Vogue, "Just Calling the White Nationalists at Charlottesville "Nazis" Erases America's Own Racism," 18 Aug. 2017 But to love the Confederacy is to side with murderers, rapists, child abusers and thieves. — Virgie Townsend, Harper's BAZAAR, "I Am a Descendant of Slaveholders. Charlottesville Demands My Honesty About White Supremacy.," 17 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'confederacy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.