confabulation

American  

[kuhn-fab-yuh-ley-shuhn] / kənˌfæb yəˈleɪ ʃən /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• confabulatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of confabulation

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

Example Sentences

This isn’t the same as confabulation, or making a false memory, because what is recalled really happened.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

Although she has not examined Mr. Biden, Ms. Dodson said some of his stories sound similar to confabulation.

From Washington Times • Aug. 25, 2023

"So the question is: If there's something awry going on, was there hypnosis? Are they using confabulation?"

From Salon • Sep. 25, 2018

White House attempts to write the story off as a confabulation were undermined, however, by expressions of alarm on Capitol Hill.

From The Guardian • Feb. 26, 2017

But this episode was symptomatic: even his love for me involved extending the fabric of his psychosis and confabulation.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee