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• confederate
  confederate

  adjective

  united in a league, alliance, or conspiracy.
• Confederate
  Confederate

  adjective

  of, supporting, or relating to the Confederate States of America

confederate

American  

[kuhn-fed-er-it, -fed-rit, kuhn-fed-uh-reyt] / kənˈfɛd ər ɪt, -ˈfɛd rɪt, kənˈfɛd əˌreɪt /

adjective

1. united in a league, alliance, or conspiracy.

2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Confederate States of America.

   the Confederate army.

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noun

confederates plural

1. a person, group, nation, etc., united with others in a confederacy; an ally.

   Synonyms:

   cohort, partner, associate

2. an accomplice, especially in a mischievous or criminal act.

3. (initial capital letter) a supporter of the Confederate States of America.

verb (used with or without object)

confederated, confederating

1. to unite in a league, alliance, or conspiracy.

confederate ¹ British  

noun

1. a nation, state, or individual that is part of a confederacy

2. someone who is part of a conspiracy; accomplice

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adjective

1. united in a confederacy; allied

verb

1. to form into or become part of a confederacy

Confederate ² British  

/ -ˈfɛdrɪt, kənˈfɛdərɪt /

adjective

1. of, supporting, or relating to the Confederate States of America

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noun

1. a supporter of the Confederate States of America

Confederate Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for the institutions and people of the Confederacy.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-Confederate
  adjective
• nonconfederate
  adjective
• pro-Confederate
  adjective
• unconfederated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• confederates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of confederate

1350–1400; Middle English confederat < Late Latin confoederātus (past participle of confoederāre to unite in a league), equivalent to con- con- + foeder- (stem of foedus ) treaty ( see fidelity) + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

A confederate is an ally — someone who's on your side. Your brother, the artist, might be your only confederate in your goal of studying modern dance in Paris this summer. A confederate is anyone who supports you and works toward the same goal with you. When it is used in the context of government or politics, it means "united by a treaty," like two countries that have joined forces against a third. When the first letter is capitalized, Confederate refers to the southern United States during the Civil War, which were confederates in their fight to secede from the rest of the country.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confederate Confederate confederates confederated confederating

Warnock became Georgia’s first Black senator and the first Black Democratic senator from a former confederate state.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2022

The first march I ever attended was a protest in January 2000, to bring down the confederate flag from the top of the South Carolina State House.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2022

For example, in the “door holding” experiment, a white or Black confederate followed students as they entered a campus building.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2021

Roth, who had mentored the progress of Lelchuk’s “American Mischief” toward its ultimate success, had once again happened on a compliant confederate.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2021

As they walked down the hallway with their questionnaire, a man—a confederate of the experimenters—walked past them and pulled out a drawer in one of the filing cabinets.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

As Ms. Newsome removed the Confederate flag and carried it down the pole, she recited Psalm 27 and the Lord’s Prayer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

On a drizzly morning in June, all was still on Tuskegee's South Main Street, a two-lane road that runs into the heart of the town square, where a towering Confederate monument loomed over the emptiness.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

At the rally in Montgomery, chants of “we won’t go back” echoed through crowds gathered near the Alabama Capitol, where both Confederate and civil rights monuments stand within view of one another.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

Last October, the only outdoor monument in Washington to honor a Confederate general -- a statue of Albert Pike -- was restored.

From Barron's ● May 17, 2026

In September 1862, President Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring freedom for slaves in the Confederate states as of January 1, 1863.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

A perennial target of assassins, James survived the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes and confederates hoped to blow up Parliament.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

It was mainly used to prevent former confederates from taking over state and federal government positions after the Civil War.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2023

The affidavit, which was sworn to on Aug. 5, also noted that the F.B.I. had “not yet identified all potential criminal confederates nor located all evidence related to its investigation.”

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2022

The FBI asked for the affidavit to be sealed because the agency has "not yet identified all potential criminal confederates no located all evidence related to its investigation."

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2022

And loyal confederates, Hamlet and I never revealed that we were authors of this tragicomedy.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Gorbachev, who struggled to form even a loosely confederated union out of the fifteen Soviet republics, blamed Yeltsin and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus for plotting illegally to dissolve the bloc.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 3, 2016

President Obama has approved federal assistance for Okanogan County and the Colville confederated tribes to help repair or replace public infrastructure.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2014

President Barack Obama has approved federal assistance for Okanogan County and the Colville confederated tribes to help repair or replace public infrastructure lost in this summer’s wildfires.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 20, 2014

It was issued the year before the Constitutional Convention that would send the confederated former colonies into the epic called the United States of America. 

From Forbes ● Aug. 18, 2014

Sir H. Rawlinson considered that the Feili Lur form of government is very rare among the clan nations of Asia, and that it approaches tolerably near to the spirit of a confederated republic.

From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)

A combine "conspiring, combining, confederating, agreeing and cooperating between or among themselves."

From Time Magazine Archive

In Washington, Bosnian Croats and Muslims signed the constitution of a new federated state, confederating it with Croatia.

From Time Magazine Archive

The work of confederating the British American Provinces was one of compromise among the statesmen, the political parties and the people concerned.

From The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volumes 1 to 4 by Dent, John Charles

After harboring this thought for a day or two longer, he charged her with the crime of confederating to injure Duffel, as already related.

From Eveline Mandeville The Horse Thief Rival by Addison, Alvin

On November 27, he issued a proclamation, stating that sundry persons were confederating and conspiring together to begin a military expedition or enterprise against the dominions of Spain.

From Union and Democracy by Johnson, Allen