Commonly Confused Words Confidant and Confident

Dont confuse the nouns confidant and confidante with the adjective confident.   Definitions The noun confidant  refers to a person (usually a trusted friend, family member, or associate) to whom secrets or private matters are freely disclosed. A confidant may be either male or female. A confidante is female.   The adjective confident means certain, bold, or self-assured. Examples He was my soul mate, my confidant, my hedge against loneliness. I needed him. I felt lost without him.(Betty Berzon, Surviving Madness. University of Wisconsin Press, 2002)Eleanor began to shed her timidity. On her honeymoon in Switzerland, she had feared scaling the peaks and watched as Franklin marched off with a glamorous hat maker. Now she hiked mountains with long, confident strides, outpacing everyone else.(Joseph E. Persico, Franklin and Lucy. Random House, 2007)Going past the room occupied by the young missionary, I smiled upon his door, which was shut, confident that he was inside hard at prayers.(J.F. Powers, Death of a Favorite. The New Yorker, 1951) Usage Notes Today the forms confidant and confidante predominate in both American English and British English, though confidante is falling into disuse because of what is increasingly thought to be a needless distinction between males and females. Despite the poor etymology, one can be confident in using confidant (/kon-fi-dahnt/) for either sex, as it is predominantly used in American writing.(Bryan A. Garner,  Garners Modern English Usage, 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2016)Confidant(e)/Confident. As with all words ending with ant/ent, the former is a noun and the latter an adjective:  He was so confident, he did not need a confidant in whom to confide his fears.(John Seely, Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking. Oxford University Press, 2013) Practice (a) Congressional leaders stood in a little cluster, wearing the aggressively _____ expressions that politicians put on when they face a pack of reporters. (b) My mother is my best friend and _____. Answers to Practice Exercises: Confidant and Confident (a) Congressional leaders stood in a little cluster, wearing the aggressively confident expressions that politicians put on when they face a pack of reporters.(b) My mother is my best friend and confidant (or confidante).