1
as in accomplice
one associated with another in wrongdoing
the police were able to track down his confederates once the thief started talking
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2
as in supporter
someone associated with another to give assistance or moral support
relied on her confederates in the medical community for support
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to cooperate
to form or enter into an association that furthers the interests of its members
the nations confederated in order to lower international trade barriers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in allied
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of confederate
Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 16 July 2024
An article on Saturday about a school district in Virginia that voted to reinstate confederate names to several schools misstated the surname of a former member of the Shenandoah County school board.
—New York Times, 14 May 2024
Gregory Feifer, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2016
Yet, the real participants were surrounded by confederates, or actors, who deliberately gave incorrect answers.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Andrew R. Chow, Time, 21 Nov. 2022
The holiday celebrates confederate soldiers such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.
—Mabinty Quarshie, USA TODAY, 15 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for confederate
Noun
In 1865, he was appointed as the confederate secretary of war.
—Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 16 July 2024
An article on Saturday about a school district in Virginia that voted to reinstate confederate names to several schools misstated the surname of a former member of the Shenandoah County school board.
—New York Times, 14 May 2024
Verb
Complicit supervisors who managed the scheme made certain to give a cut to their confederates in local government, who no doubt passed some of it to their Moscow protectors because the racket was apparently widespread in the city.
—Gregory Feifer, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2016
Yet, the real participants were surrounded by confederates, or actors, who deliberately gave incorrect answers.
—Vibhas Ratanjee, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
The Kinfolk app’s launch comes as fierce debate rages about the monuments staring down at us from city centers: those that pay tribute to confederate leaders, slave owners, or other tarnished once-heroes.
—Andrew R. Chow, Time, 21 Nov. 2022
The holiday celebrates confederate soldiers such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.
—Mabinty Quarshie, USA TODAY, 15 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for confederate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confederate
Noun
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That mysterious shift followed her participation in two days of interviews with the Justice Department, as the White House battles calls for more transparency on Epstein and his potential accomplices.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
5 Aug. 2025
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Here’s everything to know about Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice's life in prison — and her attempts to overturn her conviction.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
30 July 2025
Noun
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The former City Council president spent primary day visiting various polling sites, capping off the night with her team and supporters at The Enclave on Detroit's northwest side to celebrate her campaign.—
Dana Afana,
Freep.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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The decision sparked a firestorm on social media — where much of the debate around these issues is taking place — and Jackson-Smith was the target of abusive and threatening comments from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Suspect broke into father's gun safe to get weapons The suspect's family has been cooperating with law enforcement, Hosey said.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
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Now, as part of the deal, Greystar has agreed to cooperate with the DOJ’s monopolization claims against RealPage.—
Heather Vogell,
ProPublica,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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With 20,000 troops and tens of thousands of allied militiamen, Turkey has controlled significant swathes of territory across five northern Syrian provinces since 2016.—
Kamran Bokhari,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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An allied invention was the forming tube that compressed the yarns as the strand was made.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Worse still, users of all class designations are choosing to instantly end their lives when downed, rather than wait for the ticker to run out while a nearby ally races in to save them.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
12 Aug. 2025
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Canada—a key United States ally in the Arctic and NATO—is actively monitoring vessels and has been tracking five Chinese research ships operating around Alaska since last week.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Aug. 2025
Verb
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At best, the club could unite Southern California’s rugby communities and its sizable player pool, making the Legion into a giant capable of conquering MLR.—
Vitas Carosella,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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Science united them, via Calista Oetama California oversight agency faults handling of prison use-of-force allegations, via Stephen Hobbs Gavin Newsom says he’s always supported nonpartisan redistricting.—
Amelia Wu,
Sacbee.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The attempt would be remarkable and serve as an overt example of partisan gerrymandering in Missouri — not based on population changes but to strengthen the GOP’s slim majority in Congress.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
7 Aug. 2025
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America’s energy future shouldn’t be a partisan battlefield.—
Leo Schwartz,
Fortune,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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On the other hand, federated knowledge graphs address data silos by bringing a decentralized approach to data integration.—
Rajiv Shesh,
Forbes.com,
18 July 2025
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Collaborate Securely With Federated Learning Models Leverage federated learning to train machine learning models collaboratively across institutions without sharing raw data.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confederate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confederate. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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