confidante

noun

con·​fi·​dante ˈkän-fə-ˌdänt 

 also  -ˌdant,

-dənt

: confidant

especially : one who is a woman

Did you know?

Is it confident or confidant? (Or is it confidante?)

If you find yourself unsure whether you should choose confident or confidant don’t feel bad; confidant comes to English from the French word confident, and when the word first entered our language it was often spelled that way, rather than as confidant. The difference is quite simple: confidant is a noun (meaning "a person in whom you confide things"), and confident is an adjective (defined as “having confidence”). You may well be confident in your confidant, but you would not be confidant in your confident. Although this distinction has not always been observed by writers, confidante is generally used for a female confidant. The word confidant is more frequently used to describe a man, but it may be applied to either gender.

Synonyms

• alter ego
• amigo
• buddy
• chum
• compadre
• comrade
• confidant
• crony
• familiar
• friend
• intimate
• mate [chiefly British]
• musketeer
• pal

Examples of confidante in a Sentence

She was her closest friend and confidante.

only her closest confidantes know what she's going through

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2017, Politico reported that during Trump’s 2016 campaign, his former bodyguard and confidante Keith Schiller would routinely go to the McDonald’s near the Marine Air Terminal in Queens while Trump waited in the limousine. —Chad De Guzman, TIME, 21 Oct. 2024

Over time, Mintz became one of their closest confidantes. —Liz McNeil, People.com, 18 Oct. 2024

Jean-Pierre will now be alongside the ranks of the president's top confidantes like senior advisers Mike Donilon, Steve Richetti and Bruce Reed. —Mary Bruce, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2024

In the original film, Al acts as a moral support and confidante to Bruce Willis's John McClane, staying with McClane over a walkie-talkie through the course of the night. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 25 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French confidente, feminine of confident confidant

First Known Use

1662, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

confidante

noun

con·​fi·​dante ˈkän-fə-ˌdant 

-ˌdänt

: confidant

especially : one who is a woman