confabulation

[ kuhn-fab-yuh-ley-shuhn ]
See synonyms for: confabulationconfabulatory on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the act of confabulating; conversation; discussion: One night, over a beer, Jake and I got into a confabulation on the world and life in general, and Jake's affairs in particular.

  2. Psychiatry, Psychology. the replacement of a gap in a person's memory by a falsification that they believe to be true: The report concluded that while the information elicited under hypnosis may be accurate, it may also include confabulations and pseudomemories.

Origin of confabulation

1
First recorded in 1490–1500; from Late Latin confabulātiōn- (stem of confābulātiō ) “conversation,” equivalent to confābulāt(us) (see confabulate) + -iōn- noun suffix; see -ion

Other words from confabulation

  • con·fab·u·la·to·ry [kuhn-fab-yoo-luh-tawr-ee], /kənˈfæb yʊ ləˌtɔr i/, adjective

Words Nearby confabulation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use confabulation in a sentence

  • Here, by an odd chance, just as we came to the school gate, we met Mr Jarman and Crofter walking out in deep confabulation.

    Tom, Dick and Harry | Talbot Baines Reed
  • Then Jake visited her, and, taking her out of the kitchen, had a long confabulation with her in the open.

    The Night Riders | Ridgwell Cullum