as in rivalry
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 confrontation
The White House has since sought to pick a path that ensures Ukrainian survival and inflicts strategic defeat on Russia, without dragging the U.S. and its NATO allies into a potentially nuclear confrontation with Moscow.
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David Brennan, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2024
Instead, try to be bolder and stay open to confrontation—especially when it’s done with pure intent.
—Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Nov. 2024
The climactic battle has been flatteringly compared to the epic Pelennor Fields confrontation in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2024
General advice is to ‘get inside the nearest building to avoid radiation’ in the event of a nuclear attack
(Image credit: Anton Petrus/Getty Images)
The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel has sparked growing fears of a possible nuclear confrontation.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week Uk, theweek, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for confrontation 
David Brennan, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2024
Instead, try to be bolder and stay open to confrontation—especially when it’s done with pure intent.
—Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Nov. 2024
The climactic battle has been flatteringly compared to the epic Pelennor Fields confrontation in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2024
General advice is to ‘get inside the nearest building to avoid radiation’ in the event of a nuclear attack
(Image credit: Anton Petrus/Getty Images)
The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel has sparked growing fears of a possible nuclear confrontation.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week Uk, theweek, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for confrontation
Recent Examples of Synonyms for confrontation
Noun
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But these games are also the most exciting and meaningful contests of the season to the players, coaches and fan bases, as rivalry games bring out the greatest emotions, energy and effort.Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
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Two days after tensions flared going into halftime of the crosstown rivalry game, DeShaun Foster remained salty about UCLA being the only team punished.Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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That campaign, started during Barack Obama’s presidency, included battles in Mosul, where an effort to evict approximately 5,000 ISIS fighters in the city led to perhaps 10,000 civilian deaths and the destruction of the city.Eugene Kontorovich, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2024
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The news of Williams' health comes courtesy of the ongoing legal battle between Williams' guardian Sabrina E. Morrissey and A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment and other affiliates involved with the release of Where Is Wendy Williams?Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Each of these movies was smart, exciting, and relevant to the present moment, with a point of view that centered the daily struggles of ordinary folks.Noel Murray, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
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Humanity’s long-standing struggle to constitute itself in ever-more complex arrangements, so that no state gains absolute mastery over others, has achieved the status of a continuous, uninterrupted law of nature.Henry A. Kissinger, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The Cowboys’ biggest deliveries were notched during their Week 3 duel with Baltimore, which averaged 27.29 million viewers on Fox, trailing only the previous week’s Bengals-Chiefs broadcast on CBS (27.87 million) for bragging rights as the season’s top linear-TV draw.Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 5 Nov. 2024
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The Dodgers won the first two in L.A., Game 2 featuring the duel between rookie Bob Welch and Reggie Jackson.Jim Alexander, Orange County Register, 27 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Prior to working at Blizzard, Longdale worked on what was, at the time when World of Warcraft first launched, the game’s primary competition — Everquest.Cameron Koch, Rolling Stone, 23 Nov. 2024
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This is creating fierce competition and putting pressure on telcos to innovate and scale quickly while minimizing their environmental impact and demonstrating their commitment to a low-carbon, circular economy.Carmen Ene, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
Noun
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As the neighborhood demographics have changed, park usage has often become a point of conflict.Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American-Statesman, 21 Nov. 2024
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The attorneys argued that the development conflicts with the city's future planning ordinance, known as the comprehensive plan.John Tuohy, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
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But Slava is also, out of pure obligation to the reality of his country being invaded, part of a dedicated special forces unit of Ukrainian civilians — from doctors to farmers — who’ve had to learn the art of warfare: operating guns and drones.Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
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For decades, Israel has refrained from adopting a policy of preemptive warfare.Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 27 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Lutnick, who was backed by Musk, slid out of contention as Treasury secretary as Trump grew tired of his public lobbying for the role, according to the New York Times.Derek Saul, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024
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One other prospective appointee — a 2024 presidential contender, Cincinnati pharmaceutical entrepreneur and Vance insider Vivek Ramaswamy — pulled out of contention after accepting a position in the new Trump administration.CBS News, CBS News, 22 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near confrontation
Cite this Entry
“Confrontation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/confrontation. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.
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