confiding

[kuh n-fahy-ding]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR confiding ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

trustful; credulous or unsuspicious: a confiding nature.

Origin of confiding

First recorded in 1635–45; confide + -ing²

Related formscon·fid·ing·ly, adverbcon·fid·ing·ness, nounnon·con·fid·ing, adjectiveun·con·fid·ing, adjective

confide

[kuhn-fahyd]

verb (used without object), con·fid·ed, con·fid·ing.

to impart secrets trustfully; discuss private matters or problems (usually followed by in): She confides in no one but her husband.

to have full trust; have faith: They confided in their own ability.

verb (used with object), con·fid·ed, con·fid·ing.

to tell in assurance of secrecy: He confided all his plans to her.

to entrust; commit to the charge or knowledge of another: She confided her jewelry to her sister.

Origin of confide

1625–35; < Latin confīdere, equivalent to con- con- + fīdere to trust, akin to foedus; see confederate, fidelity

Related formscon·fid·er, nounpre·con·fide, verb, pre·con·fid·ed, pre·con·fid·ing.un·con·fid·ed, adjectivewell-con·fid·ed, adjective

Synonyms for confide

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR confide ON THESAURUS.COM

3. disclose, reveal, divulge, impart.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for confiding

disclose, reveal, whisper, confess, impart, admit, suggest, breathe, intimate, hint, insinuate, buzz, tell, commend, relegate, bestow, consign, charge, delegate, commit

Examples from the Web for confiding

Contemporary Examples of confiding

In Steve, she plays Mary Magdalene Horowitz, an excitable loser who spends her days confiding in her only friend—a pet hamster.
Oscar Nominees’ Most Embarrassing Roles: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and More
Marlow Stern
February 11, 2014
He quoted Hernandez as confiding to relatives that he had “done a bad thing and killed a child in New York.”
Justice Delayed: Did the NYPD Blow the Etan Patz Case?
Michael Daly
May 25, 2012
Tough as it may be to conjure, even dentists report that their patients are confiding when their mouths are unencumbered.
The New Pseudo-Shrinks
Beth Landman
March 27, 2009
In his Fireside Chats, FDR spoke to some 60 million or more Americans as if he were confiding frankly to a single friend.
Obama's Speech and the Burden of History
Harold Evans
January 20, 2009

Historical Examples of confiding

Thank you very much for coming to me and for confiding in me.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
Philip, with a confiding and grateful impulse, put his hand into Gawtrey's.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
And now, I don't mind your confiding in your friend Captain Fenton.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
Some may have a motive for confiding in us, towards whom we have no motive for confiding.
Reflections
Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld
History will some day do him justice, for he was good, humane, and confiding.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt

British Dictionary definitions for confiding

confiding

adjective

unsuspicious; trustful

Derived Formsconfidingly, adverbconfidingness, noun

confide

verb

(usually foll by in; when tr, may take a clause as object) to disclose (secret or personal matters) in confidence (to); reveal in private (to)

(intr foll by in) to have complete trust

(tr) to entrust into another's keeping

Derived Formsconfider, noun

Word Origin for confide

C15: from Latin confīdere, from fīdere to trust; related to Latin foedus treaty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for confiding

confide

mid-15c., "to trust or have faith," from Latin confidere "to trust in, rely firmly upon, believe" (see confidence). Meaning "to share a secret with" is from 1735; phrase confide in (someone) is from 1888. Related: Confided; confiding.