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 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 In 2016, the organization was barred from flying confederate flags in the Fort Worth Stock Show parade in downtown. Sarah Bahari, Dallas News, 22 Mar. 2023 Last summer, as social justice protestors marched in cities and towns across the country in response to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a White police officer, the removal of monuments honoring confederate leaders accelerated in parts of the country. San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 2021 Taylor pointed out that for more than a decade, the NCAA refused to hold events in South Carolina because the confederate flag flew at the statehouse. Lindsay Schnell, USA TODAY, 20 Jan. 2023 Mississippi had used a flag featuring the confederate battle cross for 126 years and was the last state to do so. April Siese, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2020
Noun
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 The confederate had long dark hair arranged in three different hairstyles: one with her hair falling naturally on her shoulders and her back, one with her hair tied in a ponytail, and one with her hair twisted in a bun. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 18 Nov. 2015 The chief architect of the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is said to have denied that the hijackers had any confederates waiting for them in the United States. Tim Golden, ProPublica, 27 Apr. 2023 After weeks of waiting, corporate leadership finally logged in to perform some basic social/security checks and approve the applications for Flam_Hill and a confederate. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 12 Apr. 2023 Who are your confederates, who are your allies? Russell Flannery, Forbes, 21 Mar. 2023 As part of the plot, Domingo asked his confederate — who was cooperating with the FBI as part of the investigation — to find a bomb maker, and Domingo then purchased several hundred nails to be used as shrapnel inside the explosive device, according to officials. Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2021 Even the closest confederate to turn on Trump, his lawyer-fixer Michael Cohen, described the elliptical ways Trump directed him, in private conversations, to engage in illicit conduct. Scott Turow, Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2023
Verb
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 Should confederate monuments be preserved or destroyed? Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2017 The Warren County monument is one of four memorials to confederate soldiers in Ohio. Cincinnati.com, 22 Aug. 2017 See More

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 3 Oct. 2023.

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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