Did you know?
If you're confident of the trustworthiness of your confidants, you're tuned into the origins of the word confidant. The word comes, via French, from the Italian confidente, meaning "trusting, having trust in," from Latin confīdere, meaning "to put one’s trust in, have confidence in.” Other descendants of confīdere in English include confide, confidence, confident, and confidential, all of which ultimately have Latin fīdere, meaning "to trust (in), rely (on)," as their root. Confidant (and its variant confidante, used especially of a woman) and confident are often confused, a topic about which we have plenty to say.
Did you know?
Is it confident or confidant? (Or is it confidante?)
If you find yourself unsure whether you should choose confident or confidant don’t feel bad; confidant comes to English from the French word confident, and when the word first entered our language it was often spelled that way, rather than as confidant. The difference is quite simple: confidant is a noun (meaning "a person in whom you confide things"), and confident is an adjective (defined as “having confidence”). You may well be confident in your confidant, but you would not be confidant in your confident. Although this distinction has not always been observed by writers, confidante is generally used for a female confidant. The word confidant is more frequently used to describe a man, but it may be applied to either gender.
Examples of confidant in a Sentence
Eric Cortellessa, Time, 7 Aug. 2025
Carone, Adams’ longtime political confidant who now chairs his reelection campaign, founded Financial Vision in 2018 with his ex-law partner, Howard Fensterman, and others, business records show.
—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 31 July 2025
Sources familiar with the matter say that ever since the verdict, Combs’ associates and confidants appear emboldened by the mogul beating charges that could have sent him to prison for life.
—Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2025
Maxwell, his longtime confidant, was convicted in 2021 of acting as a recruiter of young girls who would later be abused by Epstein.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for confidant
Cite this Entry
“Confidant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confidant. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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confidant
noun
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