confront

verb

kuhn-FRUNT/kənˈfɹʌnt/

7 meanings of confront

1
verbtransitive
To stand face to face with someone, especially in competition, hostility, or defiance.
Soldiers must confront the enemy without hesitation.
She confronted her accuser in open court.
Similarchallenge, oppose
Oppositeavoid, evade, flee, shun
2
verbtransitive
To deal with something, especially a problem or difficulty, rather than avoiding it.
Leaders must confront the housing crisis head-on.
The company confronted falling sales by cutting prices.
Similartackle
Oppositeavoid, evade, ignore, sidestep
3
verbtransitive
To come up against something or encounter it, often without warning.
Travelers often confront language barriers abroad.
Researchers confronted unexpected results during the trial.
Similarencounter, face, meet, experience
Oppositeavoid, escape
4
verbtransitive
To bring someone face to face with a fact, person, or situation.
Detectives confronted the suspect with the security footage.
The report will confront readers with hard truths about pollution.
Similarpresent, challenge, face
5
verbintransitive
To engage in a confrontation; to take an openly hostile stance toward another.
When tensions rise, some people prefer to confront rather than retreat.
The rivals confronted openly at the meeting.
Similarclash, fight, argue, quarrel, spar
Oppositeretreat, withdraw, yield
6
verbtransitive
To place a thing facing another, or set it in contrast to something else.
The curator confronted the original sketch with the finished painting.
Critics often confront the film with its source novel.
Similarjuxtapose, contrast, compare, oppose
7
verbtransitive
To set a thing side by side with another in order to compare them.
Scholars confront the two manuscripts to find differences in wording.
The auditor confronted the figures with the bank records.
Similarcompare, collate, juxtapose, contrast, check

Practice

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Origin

This comes from Middle French confronter, from Medieval Latin cōnfrontāre, formed from con- plus frontem meaning "front" or "forehead."