confabulate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to converse informally; chat.
-
Psychiatry. to replace a gap in one's memory by a falsification that one believes to be true; engage in confabulation.
verb
-
to talk together; converse; chat
-
psychiatry to replace the gaps left by a disorder of the memory with imaginary remembered experiences consistently believed to be true See also paramnesia
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of confabulate
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin confābulātus (past participle of confābulārī “to talk together, discuss”); see con- ( def. ), fable ( def. ), -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Confabulate is a fancy way of saying “talk.” If you’re feeling formal, you don’t chat with your best friend on the phone, you confabulate. Regular people talk, people wearing tuxedos and beaded evening gowns confabulate. Confabulate means to talk, but it also refers to creating a memory that’s unreal, like a fable, without being aware of it. If you suffer from memory loss, you might confabulate to fill in the blanks. The word comes from the Latin com- for "together" and fabulari for "to talk," which comes from fabula for "a tale." Whew. For a long time, confabulate just meant “to talk,” but the psychiatric sense came later.
Vocabulary lists containing confabulate
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Two Roads
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Our Mutual Friend
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We know people confabulate details in many situations, but it was neat to see this play out in the context of imagination,” McCoy says.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 20, 2023
The two proud dowagers, Lady Lynn and Lady Ingram, confabulate together.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
An' all dem ghostes sicond de motion, an' dey confabulate out loud erbout dat, an' de noise soun' like de rain-doves goin', "Oo-oo-o-o-o!" an' de owls goin', "Whut-whoo-o-o-o!" an' de wind goin', "You-you-o-o-o!"
From The Best Ghost Stories by Various
An' all dem ghostes sicond de motion, an' dey confabulate out loud erbout dat, an' de noise soun' like de rain-doves goin', “Oo-oo-o-o-o!” an' de owls goin', “Whut-whoo-o-o-o!” an' de wind goin', “You-you-o-o-o!”
From Humorous Ghost Stories by Scarborough, Dorothy
"Mistah Travis," began Mr. Scott deferentially, clearing his throat, "would you-all be good enough to jine our little gatherin' while we confabulate on dis hyar recent contabulaneous incident?"
From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1920 by Various
Shawn Oakley has shown that it is easy to induce ChatGPT to create misinformation and even report confabulated studies on a wide range of topics, from medicine to politics to religion.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 19, 2022
Hecht’s gift for confabulated anecdote suggests one reason that he became so successful as a Hollywood entertainer.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 4, 2019
Then Michael confabulated much longer and more fruitfully.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2017
Then it started developing as we confabulated for a week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2017
She listened and heard, and patched it up with Mr. Rashleigh's dinner-table tale, and confabulated with her cousin, and put him up to this last dodge.
From The Unseen Bridgegroom or, Wedded For a Week by Fleming, May Agnes
He said Dr A and Dr B were "confabulating" events to target him and that Dr B was an unreliable witness due to a previous traumatic experience.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
“If he is confabulating, he is wholly confident in his recollection and will stick to his guns. You can’t present anyone confabulating with evidence to the contrary because they believe their own reality.”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 25, 2023
Dr. Ahmed has not personally assessed Mr. Biden but said, in his view, the evidence is “overwhelming” that Mr. Biden is confabulating.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 25, 2023
The personnel dressed in white jackets the next morning were busy confabulating and joking with one another while cheesy loud music was playing in the background.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 21, 2019
As we were thus confabulating and I was being entertained with native wine and sweets, I received a dreadful blow—that is to say, a moral one.
From Corea or Cho-sen The Land of the Morning Calm by Landor, Arnold Henry Savage
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
