Megan Garber
Examples of confessional in a Sentence
Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024
In a confessional, Tori explains why Lilah has to go to a sleep study.
—Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024
In other ways, Mr. Zephaniah used the public forum as a confessional.
—Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
The album’s lo-fi confessionals delve into heartbreak and childhood to tell the story of a life, pared back like field recordings retrieved from some ancient nomad dwelling.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2024
In a confessional, Tori explains that first birthdays can be a lot of pressure.
—Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 18 Mar. 2024
Henry has one of the longest confessionals, revisiting his struggle with grief and love.
—Gloria Oladipo, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024
The production even scored the theme to accompany her during confessionals.
—Ben Rosenstock, TIME, 26 Feb. 2024
Diaz’s performance is laden with social-media-influencer artifice (not helped by his character’s tendency toward on-camera confessionals that don’t feel too different from Instagram Live posts).
—Robyn Bahr, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2024
Sarah Grant, SPIN, 10 Apr. 2024
Rogers is no longer reliant on confessional first-person writing.
—Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
As confessional television, the scene is a cheeky failure, albeit one containing some clues about how Carmichael’s theories about the examined life might fare when put into practice.
—Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
In a confessional interview later, Janelle expressed concern over her children's strained relationship with their father.
—Esther Kang, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024
Then, after one particularly intense nightmare involving confessional booths, endless hallways and grasping hands, Cecilia goes to the infirmary.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Mar. 2024
Its confessional, diaristic pop songs play with singer-songwriter cliches, often with self-reflection at the forefront.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 4 Mar. 2024
The class will highlight the intersection of English literature and gender studies, studying womanhood, witch hunts, diary and confessional writings, and what is deemed socially acceptable for women’s fame and women’s success.
—Bryan West, USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024
There's even a confessional room, for guests to recap their fun (and gossip about their other housemates, 'natch).
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 22 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'confessional.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
probably borrowed from French confessional (short for chaire confessionale, siège confessional, literally, "confessional seat"), noun derivative of confessional, adjective, "constituting or used for a confession," borrowed from Medieval Latin confessiōnālis, from Latin confessiōn-, confessiō confession + -ālis -al entry 1
Adjective
borrowed from Medieval Latin confessiōnālis "constituting or used for a confession" — more at confessional entry 1
Dictionary Entries Near confessional
Cite this Entry
“Confessional.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confessional. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
confessional
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on confessional
Nglish: Translation of confessional for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of confessional for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about confessional
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