as in rivalries
an earnest effort for superiority or victory over another
the softball rivals met in an epic confrontation on the last weekend of the summer
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Recent Examples of confrontations
Friday’s incident is the latest in a number of confrontations around the country in which agents have used deadly or what experts say is excessive force.
—
Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
But rather that politicians cannot proselytize for the confrontations.
—Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026
From Los Angeles to Chicago to Portland, recent confrontations have escalated into unrest, violence, and death.
—Paola Ramos, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
Ross argued that allowing local police to provide basic crowd control — rather than restricting coordination — could have reduced risks during recent confrontations.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 11 Jan. 2026
Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and agents guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
—CBS News, 10 Jan. 2026
After more confrontations, she was briefly detained by police.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 7 Jan. 2026
Television news has always had a different approach to investigative work, attempting to engineer dramatic confrontations between the person or institution under scrutiny and the intrepid reporter.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
The resulting film, Marty Supreme, follows Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a cunning, ambitious table tennis player from the Lower East side careening through a series of frantic confrontations in 1950s New York City.
—Julien Levy, Rolling Stone, 27 Dec. 2025
Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
But rather that politicians cannot proselytize for the confrontations.
—Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026
From Los Angeles to Chicago to Portland, recent confrontations have escalated into unrest, violence, and death.
—Paola Ramos, Time, 12 Jan. 2026
Ross argued that allowing local police to provide basic crowd control — rather than restricting coordination — could have reduced risks during recent confrontations.
—Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 11 Jan. 2026
Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and agents guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
—CBS News, 10 Jan. 2026
After more confrontations, she was briefly detained by police.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 7 Jan. 2026
Television news has always had a different approach to investigative work, attempting to engineer dramatic confrontations between the person or institution under scrutiny and the intrepid reporter.
—Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
The resulting film, Marty Supreme, follows Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet), a cunning, ambitious table tennis player from the Lower East side careening through a series of frantic confrontations in 1950s New York City.
—Julien Levy, Rolling Stone, 27 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confrontations
Noun
-
Anyone who has followed the devastating violence in California’s prisons knows that gang rivalries trigger a lot of the bloodshed.—
James Rainey,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
-
With the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers set to face off in Saturday nights' playoff game, some local couples are hoping love can overcome even the biggest of rivalries.—
Marissa Perlman,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Following the Bork confirmation debacle—when the Senate, closely split along party lines, rejected Robert Bork’s nomination to the Court—justices tended to reach the bench only after passing ideological screening systems and bruising Senate battles.—
Duncan Hosie,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
-
From roster makeup to individual position battles to the coaches looking to exploit any advantage on the field, every bit of film is scrutinized to see which team has the advantage in January.—
J.J. Bailey,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The actors will deliver quotes from the artists, thereby giving viewers a better understanding of the process and struggles of artists, Challis Davy said.—
Erika I. Ritchie,
Oc Register,
12 Jan. 2026
-
However, all but one Horned Frog who got in the game scored, and Campbell said the team’s scoring versatility matters even more when one of the team’s top scorers struggles.—
Lawrence Dow,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Miley won eight of his 10 ground duels and one of his three in the air.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
5 Jan. 2026
-
Much like the classic Tom Brady-Peyton Manning duels of old, the quarterback matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen — the two current MVP frontrunners — is can’t-miss television.—
Pete Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Their world inside Parchman was defined by regulation of contraband items, the work they were told to do, conflicts with other inmates, and the corruption and neglect of the prison administrators.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Though there are no mentions in Woman Down of conflicts between the cast of the movie-within-the-book, Petra did butt heads with a producer named Allister Jones, who was behind the changes to the plot for the adaptation.—
Benjamin VanHoose,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
De Laurentiis took all the chaos in stride and was the expert judge for the cooking portion of the outrageous lineup of competitions.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The Midwest's best winter fests include big-city ice-carving competitions as well as cozy small-town gatherings.—
Ginger Crichton,
Midwest Living,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
However, the reality is that peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US and Europe are clearly stalled, if at worse dead with many contentions from both sides surrounding security concerns and, importantly, trade sanctions.—
Earl Carr,
Forbes.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Confrontations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confrontations. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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