confidante

[ kon-fi-dant, -dahnt, kon-fi-dant, -dahnt ]

noun

1. a woman to whom secrets are confided or with whom private matters and problems are discussed.
2. Furniture. confidente.

confidante

/ ˌkɒnfɪˈdænt; ˈkɒnfɪˌdænt /

noun

1. a person, esp a woman, to whom private matters are confided

Word History and Origins

Origin of confidante¹

First recorded in 1700–10, confidante is from the French word confidente

Example Sentences

They were married in December 1954, and Joyce remained her husband’s closest confidante.

From Washington Post

While its influence is clearly perceptible in the Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne has reportedly told confidantes that he hated his time at Gordonstoun.

From Time

Klara does her best to be a friend, aide, and confidante to Josie while continuing to learn about the world around her and decode the mysteries of human behavior.

From Singularity Hub 

Malatras is a longtime confidante of Cuomo, having served as his chief of operations from 2014 to 2017.

From ProPublica

Some of his close confidantes and most loyal aides have chosen to resign rather than defend his rhetoric.

From Axios

His confidante, Louis Howe, reminded FDR there had never been a divorced president.

From The Daily Beast

Mary drank to mask her pain, wipe out her feelings, and sleep,” says a confidante, “not get drunk.

From The Daily Beast

He didn't much want the job, he was more fulfilled as Jack's confidante that he was ever likely to be as Jack's heir.

From The Daily Beast

Dame Maggie Smith's fiery Dowager Countess will get a confidante in the form of Lady Shackleton, played by Dame Harriet Walters.

From The Daily Beast

She, then still a teen, instantly became his closest confidante and companion through the many storms of his career.

From The Daily Beast

I must have a confidante here, and there are only two to choose from.

From Project Gutenberg

The noble lady has bargained to make over to her confidante all her interest in Hervey's heart.

From Project Gutenberg

You will at once see from this that Sally had lost no time in finding a confidante for the fossil's communication.

From Project Gutenberg

Mrs. Beaumont opened the delicate case with a sigh, which claimed the notice of her young confidante.

From Project Gutenberg

The girl who had relied upon herself from childhood, needed no explanation, no confidante.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• acquaintance
• adviser
• companion
• confidant
• crony

Confidante Vs. Confidant Vs. Confident

What’s the difference between confidante, confidant, and confident?

The word confidante is a gender-specific form of confidant, a noun meaning someone you feel comfortable telling secret or private things to—a person you confide in. Confidante is specifically applied to women. Confident is an adjective that means sure of oneself or one’s abilities, or having a high level of certainty about something.

Very rarely, the word confident can be used as a noun meaning the same thing as confidant, but we’re pretty confident almost no one uses it this way. We’re also sorry to report that there’s a kind of sofa called a confidente that can also be called a confidante, but honestly you’ll be better off if you just forget we ever said anything about it.

Confidant and confidante are borrowed from French, which has grammatical gender, so some words end differently depending on whether they are applied to men or women (with e being the feminine ending). This happens in a few other pairs of words in English, like blond and blonde, though in many cases the term without the e has become largely gender-neutral. This is the case with confidant, which is the more commonly used of the two.

What’s the best way to be confident that you’re using the right word? Just remember that the ending of both confidant and confidante sounds like the more formal pronunciation of aunt—your aunt could be your confidant (as could your commandant, the ending of which also sounds the same).

The ending of confident, on the other hand, sounds like dent.

Here’s an example of confidante and confident used correctly in the same sentence. (The word confidante could be replaced with confidant if you wanted to make the term gender-neutral.)

Example: I am confident that what I confide to my confidante stays confidential. 

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between confidante, confidant, and confident.

Quiz yourself on confidante vs. confidant vs. confident!

Should confident, confidant, or confidante be used in the following sentence?

She felt _____ that her entry would win the contest.