confederation

noun

con·​fed·​er·​a·​tion kən-ˌfe-də-ˈrā-shən 

1

: an act of confederating : a state of being confederated : alliance

2

: league

Synonyms of confederation

• confederacy
• federation
• coalition
• union
• alliance
• league

Examples of confederation in a Sentence

the smaller nations were forced to form a confederation out of self-defense

the big-budget movie was produced by the studio in confederation with another in order to lower the risk

Recent Examples on the Web

Two teams in the same confederation — the regional groups FIFA splits international teams into — cannot be placed into the same group, except for the European confederation UEFA, which has more teams than there are groups. —Lucia I Suarez Sang, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025

There can be only up to two European teams per group and only one team per group from each of the remaining five continental confederations under FIFA. —Rafael Nam, NPR, 5 Dec. 2025

There can only be two teams from European confederation UEFA in each group, and no other confederation can have more than one team in a group. —Don Riddell, CNN Money, 5 Dec. 2025

Likewise the Umuchu, and the Isuochi and Nneato of Okigwe in present-day Nigeria, formed defensive confederations to pool their resources. —Literary Hub, 5 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for confederation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration

Kids Definition

confederation

noun

con·​fed·​er·​a·​tion kən-ˌfed-ə-ˈrā-shən 

1

: an act of confederating : a state of being confederated : alliance

2

: league entry 2