confirmed

1. 1
   said it was soverb

   Simple past and past participle of confirm.

   Officials confirmed the outbreak after reviewing the samples.

   The agency has confirmed that funding will continue next year.

   Note

   The passive is where the verb's meanings divide: a nominee is confirmed by a vote, a teenager is confirmed in church, and a report is confirmed by evidence. The subject usually tells you which meaning is at work.

2. 2
   adjective

   Shown to be true after checking, or formally agreed to and made official.

   Police released the confirmed number of casualties after verifying every report.

   We have a confirmed reservation for eight o'clock on Friday.

   UsageUsually before the noun: confirmed cases, a confirmed reservation, a confirmed date.

   Similarverified, official, corroborated, approved, established

   Oppositeunconfirmed, unverified, unofficial, provisional

3. 3
   fixed habitadjectiveformal

   Firmly settled in a particular habit or way of life, and so unlikely to change it.

   My neighbor is a confirmed night owl who rarely goes to bed before two.

   As a confirmed pessimist, he expected the worst from every plan.

   UsageBefore a word for a kind of person: a confirmed bachelor, a confirmed pessimist, a confirmed night owl.

   Similarinveterate, habitual, incorrigible, hardened, chronic

   Note

   Habits harden into identities here. The noun that follows names a person by what they keep doing, such as a liar or an opium-smoker, and the habit is often one that others frown on.

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