confessional

[kuhn-fesh-uh-nl]

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or based on confession.

   confessional release.

noun

1. the place set apart for the hearing of confessions by a priest.

2. French Furniture.,  a high, upholstered wing chair of the 18th century.

confessional

/ kənˈfɛʃənəl /

adjective

1. of, like, or suited to a confession

noun

1. Christianity RC Church a small stall, usually enclosed and divided by a screen or curtain, where a priest hears confessions

2. a book of penitential prayers

Other Word Forms

• pseudoconfessional adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confessional¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Medieval Latin confessiōnāle, neuter of confessiōnālis (adjective); confession, -al ¹; confessional defs. 2, 3 from French, from Medieval Latin

Example Sentences

These early challenges helped shape the intimate, confessional sound that soon caught the attention of BBC Introducing in Scotland.

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There’s a difference between exposing weird, dark stuff about yourself and doing something more confessional, like the stand-up version of what you’d say to a therapist.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"We looked in the main space and although it was magnificent, it was just too big for the intimate confessional scene we wanted to shoot," Tamara says.

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As he recalled bonding with his father over music and shared a tender — at times awkward — confessional with his mother, he joked that the pair’s best work was himself.

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There was a confessional vibe at times to the conversation, borne of a fear the left can exude a piety and loftiness off-putting to many.

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