confederations

noun

plural of confederation
1
as in confederacies
an association of persons, parties, or states for mutual assistance and protection the smaller nations were forced to form a confederation out of self-defense

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in associations
the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters) the big-budget movie was produced by the studio in confederation with another in order to lower the risk

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of confederations The consultant then observed that three confederations — those in Africa, Asia and South America — announced their unanimous support for Infantino at FIFA’s last congress in Vancouver, Canada, at the end of April. — Matt Slater, New York Times, 16 July 2026 Larger confederations tend to get more representation across the board. — ABC News, 20 June 2026 Chosen from all six confederations and across 50 FIFA member associations, the 170-strong refereeing contingent – featuring six women – is the largest roster of officials in tournament history. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 8 June 2026 Blatter often had to yield to lesser chiefs, such as the heads of the continental confederations, in order to maintain his grip on power. — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 1 June 2026 The pattern had jumped continents and confederations. — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 1 June 2026 Concacaf is one of FIFA’s six continental confederations, covering soccer teams from Canada up north to Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana in the south. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026 The intercontinental playoff features six teams from five different confederations (AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL and OFC) with two spots up for grabs. — José Sánchez Córdova, Dallas Morning News, 23 Mar. 2026 There can be only up to two European teams per group and only one team per group from each of the remaining five continental confederations under FIFA. — Rafael Nam, NPR, 5 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confederations
  1. federations
  2. associations
  3. coalitions
  4. partnerships
  5. alliances
  6. relationships
  7. unions
  8. collaborations
Noun
  • All that cash keeps many of FIFA’s member federations running, and Infantino justifies his nonprofit’s relentless commercial pursuits on the basis that the proceeds go toward growing the game globally.
    — Tom Kludt, Vanity Fair, 17 July 2026
  • De la Fuente and Scaloni are products of their respective national federations, managing sides at youth level and helping to establish an identity in playing that transcends individual games and approaches.
    — The Athletic UK Staff, New York Times, 16 July 2026
Definition of federations
Noun
  • Along with attending matches, Infantino’s itinerary included stops in New York for an interview on Fox & Friends and in Miami for a FIFA summit attended by representatives from the organization’s 211 member associations.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 July 2026
  • The associations remained even after accounting for individual characteristics, suggesting community-level conditions may independently shape Alzheimer’s risk.
    — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 18 July 2026
Definition of associations
Noun
  • Their goal is to create one million jobs and halve recidivism by building coalitions in 30 cities.
    — Laurel Donnellan, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • For a long time, such coalitions tended to pull tepid critics of Israel towards public support for the ethnostate.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 July 2026
Definition of coalitions
Noun
  • Partnerships That Last Stapp has seen enough cross-sector partnerships announced with fanfare and wound down within a year to have strong opinions about what separates the two outcomes.
    — Keely Cat-Wells, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • Still, the company’s leaders have increasingly leaned into partnerships with major tech platforms.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 22 July 2026
Definition of partnerships
Noun
  • The presence of dozens of international artists and filmmakers who joined us in Jerusalem this year is an acknowledgment that true exchange happens between individuals, regardless of their nationalities, alliances, or sociological identities.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 20 July 2026
  • While American and other airlines rely on alliances and partnerships to expand reach, United is flying a lot of that itself.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 19 July 2026
Definition of alliances
Noun
  • Some of the best solutions and strongest relationships came not from speaking, but from creating space for employees to share what was really happening.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • The final issue is dating violence, teen violence between people who have relationships.
    — Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 23 July 2026
Definition of relationships
Noun
  • Credit unions do not need to imitate fintech companies to succeed.
    — Anand Solanki, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • California state workers returned to offices four days a week under Newsom’s return-to-office order that took effect earlier this month, but unions say the fight for telework isn’t over.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 18 July 2026
Definition of unions
Noun
  • Michael Caine tops Nolan’s re-dial list, with eight collaborations under his belt.
    — Emma Urdangen, PEOPLE, 18 July 2026
  • In the 21st century, fashion collaborations, including the Boston silhouette took off, ranging from streetwear brands like Stüssy to designer names.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 17 July 2026
Definition of collaborations

Browse Nearby Words

confederation
confederations
confer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Confederations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confederations. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on confederations

Nglish: Translation of confederations for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of itinerant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All