confront

play

verb con·front \ kən-ˈfrənt \

Definition of confront

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

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confrontal

play \kən-ˈfrən-tᵊl\ noun

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confronter

noun

See confront defined for English-language learners

See confront defined for kids

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 of confront from the Web

The homeowner confronted Stachon-Groblowy – who ran away, said police.

— brian l. cox, chicagotribune.com, "Police: Push for residents to 'say something' leads to arrest in Morton Grove burglaries," 28 Aug. 2017
Another factor Team Kasich would have to confront: the annoyance among many Republicans at Kasich's continued criticism of Trump.

— jessie balmert, Cincinnati.com, "Kasich-Hickenlooper 2020? It could happen," 25 Aug. 2017
Carne puts the participant in the Sonoran Desert at nightfall, just as a group of immigrants attempting to cross the border illegally are confronted by Border Patrol agents.

— matt jacobson, Esquire, "Alejandro G. Iñárritu's New Project Could Change Film Forever," 17 Aug. 2017
In Season 7, Episode 1, Jaime tries to confront his sister/lover about the death of Tommen and their other children.

— joanna robinson, HWD, "Game of Thrones: Why Cersei’s Latest News Could Prove Her Downfall," 13 Aug. 2017
The shooting happened around 12:30 p.m. when officers confronted Franklin, who was armed with a handgun.

— glenn e. rice and tony rizzo, kansascity, "Kansas City police release name of man mortally wounded in officer-involved shooting," 9 Aug. 2017
At minimum, scientists conducting this research should confront its ethical dilemmas and offer sufficient justification for studies that may draw widespread opposition and fear.

— james kath, Scientific American Blog Network, "Brave New World? Not Even Close," 2 Aug. 2017
Over the course of the weekend, Nancy, Paul, Linda, Sharon and Mark relive the memories of their childhood and confront the hidden things in each of them that keep them from facing change.

— m.e. dempsey, The Aegis, "10 years of storytelling in Harford," 1 Aug. 2017
After walking the streets, seeing Nazis patrolling on American soil and the Ku Klux Klan being chastised for speaking poor German, Blazkowicz enters a diner and is confronted by a milkshake-drinking Nazi.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and the perils of previews," 27 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'confront.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of confront

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1568

See Words from the same year

confront Synonyms

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

dodge, duck, funk, shirk, sidestep

Related Words

face up (to), front; affront; challenge; encounter, meet; accost, approach, corner; repel, resist, stand, withstand; battle, combat, contend (with), fight, oppose, square (off)

Near Antonyms

avoid, eschew, shun; elude, escape, evade, shake

CONFRONT Defined for English Language Learners

confront

play

verb

Definition of confront for English Language Learners

: to oppose or challenge (someone) especially in a direct and forceful way
: to directly question the action or authority of (someone)
: to deal with (something, such as a problem or danger); especially : to deal with (something) in an honest and direct way