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 of confront

• face

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

Among those who broke into the TV station and confronted the editor-in-chief Dragan Vucicevic was Dijana Hrka, the mother of one of the 16 victims of the 2024 train station tragedy in Serbia’s north that set off the protests. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026

Josh and Kodi Trujillo and Kodi's sister, Elisa Warner, are now confronting the major damage to their business and their homes. — Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026

But Le Mindu is hardly the only designer to have confronted his own fears of death through fashion—designers have long used this medium to wrestle with what is paradoxically both life’s only guarantee and one of its greatest mysteries. — Livia Caligor, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2026

It’s been covered breathlessly on Instagram and by celebrity media — led by the former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, who last Monday on his podcast described being confronted by Griffin at a wedding on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026

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

Rhymes for confront

• affront
• exeunt
• forefront
• lakefront
• manhunt
• sederunt
• upfront
• battlefront
• oceanfront
• riverfront
• waterfront
• blunt

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