confront

verb

con·​front kən-ˈfrənt 

confronted; confronting; confronts

transitive verb

1

: to face especially in challenge : oppose

confront an enemy

The mayor was confronted by a group of protesters.

2

a

: to cause to meet : bring face-to-face

confront a reader with statistics

confronted her with the evidence

b

: to meet face-to-face : encounter

confronted the possibility of failure

confrontal

kən-ˈfrən-tᵊl 

noun

confronter noun

Synonyms

• beard
• brave
• brazen
• breast
• dare
• defy
• face
• outbrave
• outface

Examples of confront in a Sentence

They confronted the invaders at the shore.

She confronted him about his smoking.

The country is reluctant to confront its violent past.

The photographs confront the viewer with images of desperate poverty.

I confronted her with the evidence.

Recent Examples on the Web

But the Houthis had refrained from directly confronting U.S. forces, even as the Biden administration took the lead in announcing the formation of a maritime coalition to confront the Yemeni militants. —Evan Halper, Washington Post, 31 Dec. 2023

In 2013, Amazon’s fledgling streaming service, Prime Video, had a new form of competition to confront. —Leila Jordan, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023

Alumni and current students walked out from the safety of the yeshiva's walls to confront enemies. —Eben Brown, Fox News, 28 Dec. 2023

But don’t lose sight of the global significance of this contest, given the security and economic threats and challenges confronting the winner. —Joseph C. Sternberg, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2023

The track amassed widespread attention in July following the release of its music video, which depicted protesters confronting police officers. —C Mandler, CBS News, 26 Dec. 2023

The five former colleagues reunite to confront an outside force manipulating events on earth. —Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 22 Dec. 2023

Other actors will take the measure of U.S. credibility from what Washington is prepared to do to confront the inconvenient realities that will almost certainly define the postconflict landscape. —Aaron David Miller, Foreign Affairs, 22 Dec. 2023

Even a Darién parody subgenre has emerged, built on a long tradition of using humor to confront tragedy. —Julie Turkewitz, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle French confronter to border on, confront, from Medieval Latin confrontare to bound, from Latin com- + front-, frons forehead, front

First Known Use

circa 1568, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

confront

verb

con·​front kən-ˈfrənt 

1

: to face especially in challenge : oppose

confront an enemy

2

: to bring face-to-face : cause to meet

confronted with difficulties

confrontation

ˌkän-(ˌ)frən-ˈtā-shən

noun

Legal Definition

confront

transitive verb

con·​front kən-ˈfrənt 

: to face or bring face-to-face for the purpose of challenging especially through cross-examination

the accused shall enjoy the right…to be confronted with the witnesses against him

—U.S. Constitution amend. VI

confrontation

ˌkän-frən-ˈtā-shən 

noun