confabulate

American  

[kuhn-fab-yuh-leyt] / kənˈfæb jəˌleɪt /

verb (used without object)

confabulated, confabulating

1. to converse informally; chat.

2. Psychiatry. to replace a gap in one's memory by a falsification that one believes to be true; engage in confabulation.

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confabulate British  

/ kənˈfæbjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. to talk together; converse; chat

2. psychiatry to replace the gaps left by a disorder of the memory with imaginary remembered experiences consistently believed to be true See also paramnesia

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Other Word Forms

• confabulation
  noun
• confabulator
  noun
• confabulatory
  adjective

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confabulate confabulated confabulating

“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

Or rather a group of clusters, so placed that a dozen or more housewives could stand at their respective doors, very nearly facing one another, and confabulate without greatly raising their voices.

From A Traveller in Little Things by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

Bored to death, both of us, we confabulate together huddled in shawls and greatcoats, each holding a charcoal pan to keep the fingers from being frostbitten.

From Alone by Douglas, Norman

I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau If birds confabulate or no; ’Tis clear that they were always able To hold discourse—at least in fable.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

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 it started developing as we confabulated for a week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2017

Then Michael confabulated much longer and more fruitfully.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2017

The farmer’s wife appeared at the door, looked at the traveller, then retiring with her husband, the two confabulated a little apart, and finally they invited Stephenson into the cottage. 

From Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Smiles, Samuel

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

He left the monastery unobserved, while Fra Antonio was confabulating with Giovanni Selva's messenger.

From The Saint by Thayer, William Roscoe