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

• beard
• brave
• brazen
• breast
• dare
• defy
• face
• outbrave
• outface

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

Yet, none of these policies ever fully confronted the structural roots of poverty and economic disparities among African-American men. —Ben Zdencanovic, TIME, 4 Nov. 2024

From Election Day to Inauguration Day, America will confront a treacherous 76 days in transferring power from President Biden to his successor — putting new stress on the political parties, the legal system and the culture. —Mike Allen, Axios, 4 Nov. 2024

Politics Obama confronts men for finding ‘all kinds of excuses’ to avoid voting for a female president Oct. 10, 2024 In swing states, voters are feeling the outsized attention acutely. —Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2024

They're being confronted at the front end, and those things are being looked at. —CBS News, 3 Nov. 2024

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

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