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.
She was her closest friend and confidante. only her closest confidantes know what she's going through
Recent Examples on the WebKeeping most of his opinions offline), and has found a friend and confidante in The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Rachel Desantis, PEOPLE.com, 29 July 2022 To Mercedes, Keyshawn (Shannon Thornton, a beauty with anime eyes), Gidget (Skyler Joy), and the other girls, Uncle Clifford is like a headmistress, a disciplinarian and a confidante, a warden and a mother. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022 Firm founder John Morgan is a confidante of President Joe Biden's brother Frank and helped spearhead a successful campaign to raise Florida's minimum wage to $15. Rob Wile, NBC News, 15 July 2022 Parker's dress was inspired by the work of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first Black female fashion designer in the White House, a confidante of first lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Leanne Italie, Chron, 3 May 2022 But, on May 18, 2021, at a closed hearing before Aifán, a former confidante of Giammattei, known only as Witness A, accused the President of negotiating bribes from some of the same construction companies to finance his 2019 campaign. Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2022 Maxwell, his confidante and former girlfriend, was arrested a year afterward and has been held in jail since. Eric Levenson, CNN, 23 June 2022 Obviously, these Stormtroopers and their cowardly confidante are no match for our Jedi master, so the fight doesn't last very long. Evan Romano, Men's Health, 1 June 2022 My bestie is my confidante, therapist and best shopping partner. Elizabeth Berry, Woman's Day, 13 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French confidente, feminine of confidentconfidant