confederacy

noun

con·​fed·​er·​a·​cy kən-ˈfe-d(ə-)rə-sē 

plural confederacies

1

: a group of people, countries, organizations, etc. joined together for a common purpose or by a common interest : league, alliance

The artists came together as a confederacy of craftsmen a few years ago with the notion that, at least in the realm of marketing and getting the public's attention, there is power in numbers.

—Wallace Baine

… as audiences splinter into increasingly antagonistic confederacies, finding images and themes which speak to a shared human condition can be a daunting task.

—Brian Gable

also : a group of people working together for unlawful purposes : conspiracy

… a corrupt confederacy of pimps, profiteers and putzes with an instinct for ignorance and ill will.

—Mark Kriegel

2

a

: an entity (see entity sense 3) formed by a confederacy of nations, states, etc.

"Bush Runner" is not an easy book to read … , but it offers many rewards, especially to a reader keen to know more about early Canadian history. … it focuses on the early days of European contact with the Indigenous peoples and tribal confederacies along the St. Lawrence River, as well as in the Great Lakes and Hudson's Bay regions.

—Michael Peterman

b

the Confederacy in U.S. history : the 11 southern states of the United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and later also the states of Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) during their secession from the United States between 1860 and 1865

Synonyms

• union
• alliance
• coalition
• confederation
• federation
• league

Examples of confederacy in a Sentence

a confederacy of native tribes

the last state to join the Confederacy

Recent Examples on the Web

Americans are divided on that topic, with 55% saying historical figures that supported the confederacy and racial segregation should not be memorialized in a June 2024 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute. —Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025

Men were the representatives of their clans and nations in the Haudenosaunee council, which made decisions for the confederacy as a whole. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 21 Nov. 2024

Adams wanted to align the young Republic with Great Britain, while Jefferson favored a confederacy with France. —Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 18 Aug. 2024

Others were composed of city-states or anchored by large nomadic confederacies. —Alexander Cooley, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

confederacy

noun

con·​fed·​er·​a·​cy kən-ˈfed-(ə-)rə-sē 

plural confederacies

: a league of persons, parties, or states : alliance