confection

American  

[kuhn-fek-shuhn] / kənˈfɛk ʃən /

noun

confections plural

1. a sweet preparation of fruit or the like, as a preserve or candy.

2. the process of compounding, preparing, or making something.

3. a frivolous, amusing, or contrived play, book, or other artistic or literary work.

4. something made up or confected; a concoction.

   He said the charges were a confection of the local police.

5. something, as a garment or decorative object, that is very delicate, elaborate, or luxurious and usually nonutilitarian.

6. Pharmacology. a medicated preparation made with the aid of sugar, honey, syrup, or the like.

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verb (used with object)

1. Archaic. to prepare as a confection.

confection British  

/ kənˈfɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of compounding or mixing

2. any sweet preparation of fruit, nuts, etc, such as a preserve or a sweet

3. old-fashioned an elaborate article of clothing, esp for women

4. informal anything regarded as overelaborate or frivolous

   the play was merely an ingenious confection

5. a medicinal drug sweetened with sugar, honey, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• confections
  plural

Etymology

Origin of confection

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English confeccioun, from Latin confectiōn- (stem of confectiō ) “preparation, conclusion, completion”; see origin at confect, -ion

Explanation

A confection is a food loaded with sugar. Chocolate layer cake, strawberry lollipops, and vanilla bonbons are all confections. Yum! Do you have a sweet tooth? Then you love confections, which are sweet treats such as cakes and candies and all manner of food that’s full of sugary deliciousness. The candy aisle is loaded with confections. Bakeries sell confections too, like cupcakes. A confection is almost always a delicious dessert. Just make sure you eat your vegetables before you eat any confections!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confection confections

Arguably most prominent was her role as the central of five ballerinas in “Divertimento No. 15,” Balanchine’s Mozart-inspired confection from 1956, where she displayed gyroscopic turns and air-filled, feathery footwork.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Anna Wintour, the Global Editorial Director of Vogue magazine, wore a feathery custom Chanel confection to her signature event.

From BBC ● May 4, 2026

Since 2019, sugar confection has gained 1.1 percentage point in market share, Baumgartner says, noting that Gen Z consumption is running about 25% higher over the past five years.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

See’s Candies, founded in Los Angeles in 1921, makes a “St. Patrick’s Day potato” using divinity — a nougat-like, marshmallowy confection — mixed with walnut, coated in chocolate, and rolled in cocoa powder and cinnamon.

From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2026

Our sons, tired out, were humped together asleep, the youngest clutching a sugary confection in one sticky fist.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

“Sèvres Extraordinaire!” approaches its subject—pioneering, astonishing ceramic confections that are neither purely functional nor purely decorative but sui generis art, or “sculpture”—in the broadest sense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025

A dozen buildings — if wood and canvas confections are properly “buildings” — constituted the town, which attracted gold seekers from around the world.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025

Thanks to this technique, colonists were able to keep fruit from the summer harvest to use in their Christmas confections, and fruitcakes became one of the most popular seasonal desserts.

From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2024

The company initially began as a small family licorice business and has since branched out into several varieties of confections.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024

They discovered that they could conjure splendid-looking confections, but were somewhat less successful when it came to flavor.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• cake
• candy
• pastry